Dragon Weapon
by BladeSoulPheonix
Summary: (Edited!) In a world where weapons are dragons and meisters are sorcerers what will happen when the madness starts to come back from the abyss? Will the humans side with our heroes or cause more chaos? See how Maka, Soul, Blackstar, Tsubaki, Kid, Liz and Patti handle this alternate world. Plenty of bragging, OCD and Patti moments within. The action starts on Ch 5, Ch 8 revamped.
1. Going Where You Shouldn't

The haunting notes of a piano echoed into the forest air. Wildlife quieted, as if to listen to the melody.

Undaunted by the oddity of such a thing so far from civilization, a teenage girl continued climbing up the steep path to the cliffs ahead. Her sandy blonde hair gleamed in the sunlight that made it easier to pick her way around the rock strewn trail. Keen green eyes glanced up towards the red doors that were left carelessly open. There was no "wall" they were attached to, the hinges had to be attached to the cliff-face.

Scanning the cliff-side, Maka spotted the shine of windows, then she tripped.

"Crap!" Mentally cursing she focused her eyes on the ground again. Embarrassed by her own thoughts, Maka determinedly focused on stomping her way to the residence.

It was stupid to have a path that was so treacherous. Why bother having a path at all?

Kicking a rock out of the way (and causing a mini-avalanche) Maka looked up to check how much further the door was... and almost smacked her head on it.

Reeling back, then grabbing it to keep her balance, she noticed the cool smoothness of dried paint under her fingers; it gleamed in the light. The metal studs and bands were perfectly symmetrical, the doorknob on the second door in the exact same spot.

Letting go of the door and straightening, Maka peered into the dark interior, but the sunlight didn't reach much past the entrance. All that was revealed was the same dark grey stone of the exterior cliff-face and the blurred image of a hall extending within.

Maka hesitated, and the music within changed, the song rising on a crescendo filled with wrath.

Was it smart to head inside? Maka didn't know the person within. She wasn't a guest. He didn't even know her.

Nervously reaching to fix her gloves (and belatedly realizing she wasn't wearing any) Maka stiffened her spine.

She was Maka Albarn, daughter of the great sorceress Kami Albarn, who was able to open the death-spells of her partner dragon. Meeting one boy would not be a difficult task for her, even if he was a dragon. Dragons weren't so tough. They needed sorcerers to be anything but brutish fighters. She could definitely handle this.

Taking a deep breath, she stepped into the hallway. The heels of her boots clicked against the stone floor, but it was muffled by the notes of the piano. Curiosity had her peering around in the darkness, looking for the source of the sound.

Her eyes slowly adjusted to the gloom as she came across her first open door and the source of the song she had been listening to on her climb. Slowly, she edged into the room as the music became melancholy once more.

It pulled at her heart strings, making her long to bring comfort to the boy that came into view. In stark contrast to the sombre setting of the black grand piano and bench, the boy was wearing a rumpled orange t-shirt over blue jeans and grey sock covered feet. His shockingly white hair was a spiky mess that appeared to fall over his eyes. His fingers worked magic on the black and ivory keys while a single light fought the darkness which sunlight couldn't penetrate from the red drape covered windows. The walls were a dark red with pictures framed in gold that Maka didn't bother to take a look at.

This had to be Soul. Soul "Eater" Evans, the white scythe class dragon. Scythe like her father, the dragon her mother had partnered who had become death-spell capable with her help.

The song came to an end with heart breaking loneliness and his hands stilled on the keys.

Maka began to clap.

* * *

((This is my first Soul Eater fanfic, please feel free to comment and let me know how I did.))


	2. Unexpected Guest

There was a discordant crash of notes as Soul's hands slammed down on the keys of the piano. Without a conscious thought he had leaped up onto the bench and spun to face the intruder, who had paused in the middle of... clapping?

The hands he had taken notice of were long boned and delicate, slim wrists and arms led to a skinny frame. Her white shirt and green striped tie were covered by a yellow sweater vest, her red and black plaid skirt reached halfway down her thighs. His gaze skimmed up her neck to meet forest green eyes framed by sandy blonde bangs. The rest of her hair appeared to be held up in pig tails on either side of her head.

Her eyes though... they didn't have any pupil.

He slowly blinked, then slid off the bench. Standing tall, Soul noted that she was a bit shorter than he was.

Just because there were no visible weapons didn't mean she wasn't a threat.

"Your playing is excellent," she murmured, her smile was soft and accepting.

At the sound of her voice, Soul found himself slouching, his thumbs hooking into the pockets of his jeans.

"It isn't cool to eavesdrop on people's private moments. How long were you listening?" he questioned her.

Her shoulders hunched and she blushed, then her eyes flashed with anger. "I wasn't even listening on purpose! You left the door open and I could hear it all the way in the forest." She pointed back towards the front door, her entire stance said she was offended.

Smirking, Soul took a single step towards her, giving himself more room to move. "What were you doing out there? The nearest village is miles from this location." His eyes never left her, reading her body language and face.

The blush was back, her arm dropped limply to her side. "Well, I'm Maka Albarn, sorceress. I came to ask you to be my partner."

Either she was a very good actress or as easy to read as a book. Deciding it was probably the later, Soul stepped back and eased the fall back over the piano keys, keeping her in his sight just in case he was wrong.

"You came all this way, unannounced, to ask me to be your weapon?"

Maka's hands fidgeted with her skirt. "Yes, you never visit the Academy so I decided to go to you. Everyone knows the old Evan's residence. I heard a rumour you were here."

Distancing himself from the piano again, Soul slipped his hands into his pockets. Reluctant to show any admiration for her seeking him out on a rumour, he asked, "Academy? The one for dragons or the one for sorcerers?"

"Neither; the joint one. Death Sorcerer Dragon Academy, where they teach us to work together, to become stronger. Haven't you heard? The madness is rising again," she earnestly informed him. Her outfit and attitude all shouted innocence and a freshness he hadn't experienced in quite some time.

Scratching his cheek he looked around the room, reluctant to look at her while he considered her words.

"You could have waited. I was going to the gathering of weapons and sorcerers without partners this weekend." His red eyes focused on her face, gauging her reaction. "It's only a few days away."

"I could have," she acknowledged, "but there was a chance you wouldn't have shown up."

"I'll be there, who would skip the chance to become a protector?" he asked rhetorically, making Maka smile. "Why come all the way here though? I'm just another weapon. There will be plenty of them at the gathering."

"You're a scythe class dragon, there aren't many of them. Aren't you Soul Eater Evans?"

"That would be me," he replied, slipping his hand back into his pocket. It wasn't exactly a name he treasured, all of it given to him and part of it earned. "Just call me Soul."

"It's nice to meet you Soul."

"Maka! Did you think you could escape the great Blackstar! A star like me will always be able to find you!" the shouted words echoed down the hallway and Maka visibly winced. "Ha ha ha! I found you!"

There was a flash of black and blue. Soul pulled his hands out of his pockets. Fingers lengthening and sprouting claws, he hesitated. The new person was now hanging off of Maka, laughing.

"So ya found him, huh? He doesn't look all that great to me!" The boy leaned towards Soul, using Maka as a balance as he shoved his face close. "What makes you so awesome 'Soul Eater?' I bet you haven't even eaten any souls at all!"

"Maka-chop." There was a crack and then the boy was laying on the ground at Soul's feet. Soul smirked and looked at her face, noticing the clear irritation written all over it.

"I'm sorry you had to witness that Soul," Maka apologized. "This is my 'friend' Blackstar."

"Where did you get the book from? I didn't see you holding it when I came in," Blackstar muttered from the ground, lying slumped over like a rag doll.

"If you had been paying attention during class instead of sleeping you would know," Maka replied as the book dissolved into smoke. Her eyes went back to Soul and she stared at his hands curiously.

Realizing he hadn't withdrawn his claws yet, he pulled his form back to having the regular human nails and fingers. Hooking his thumbs in his pockets again, he asked, "Blackstar? Should it be ringing any bells?"

Just like that he was standing again, and Soul noticed that Blackstar's blue hair was shaped like a star around his head. The shirt he wore was black with no sleeves and a high collar with silver fabric wrapped around his neck. Silver also cut down the front of his shirt from the top of his collar to halfway down. His long shorts were topped with it, and the cuffs ended in it as well. The shorts were white at the top and the bottom half was black.

"I AM THE GREAT AND POWERFUL BLACKSTAR. AND ONE DAY I SHALL SURPASS GOD. THERE IS NO WAY YOU CANNOT KNOW OF MY GREATNESS," Blackstar yelled, seemingly fully recovered from his skull's earlier encounter with Maka's book.

A half smile formed on Soul's face. "I guess I have heard of you now. Going to surpass god, eh? Sounds pretty cool."

Blackstar planted one fist on his hip and made a peace sign. "You bet it is. I'm the coolest man there EVER WAS."

Suddenly Blackstar was being dragged away. "If we don't get back Stein will leave without us again. Do you want to be walking back to the Academy?"

"No! The almighty Blackstar should be the first back to the Academy!" Soul blinked and Blackstar was gone, all that remained was some dust and the dwindling shout of "Yahoooooo!"

Maka paused and looked over her shoulder at Soul from the doorway. "I'll see you at the gathering on Saturday, Soul?"

Nodding Soul answered, "Yes."

Maka smiled and it lit up her whole face. "Goodbye, Soul."

"'Bye, Maka."


	3. Partners?

Maka looked around the full room, sipping some of her drink her while her eyes searched for Blackstar. It was easy to find the loud-mouth even with the steady sound of many voices. Surprisingly he had a dark haired girl at his side who didn't look like she was about to leave. Maka was happy for him, it was good that he was meeting someone new that could put up with his bragging. He really had a good heart under that ego. Everyone was dressed their best for the gathering. Even Blackstar had attempted to look nice, though his suit was dishevelled and messy. Maka herself was wearing a short dark green dress, simple necklace and shoes instead of her usual boots.

Running her fingers along her glass, Maka finally spotted Soul slipping in through the entrance. So the cool guy was late.

Setting down her cup, Maka made her way through the crowd towards him. The moving mass of people made her lose sight of him as she walked. Stopping, she slowly spun, trying to spot him.

There was a tap on her shoulder and she started, then turned to see Soul.

"Looking for someone?" He grinned at her, revealing shark-like teeth.

His hair was still a spiky mess, but more groomed than before. His red eyes matched the red tie he wore with his black suit.

"Soul!" Maka almost hugged him but stopped, blushing. They hardly knew each other well enough for her to be doing that. "I... was starting to wonder if you were going to show up. Lord Death will be making his speech soon."

Soul slipped his hands into his pockets, slouching. He went from looking sophisticated and well put together to rumpled and laid back in just one gesture. "He's the headmaster of the joint school, missing his speech wouldn't be cool."

As if on cue there was a loud clapping and everyone quieted, turning towards the stage at one end of the room. On the stage was Lord Death and a young man who stood behind him and off to one side. Lord Death was a strange sight to any who had never seen him before. His face was covered in a skull-shaped mask with three black holes in it and three points where the teeth would be. His torso was black while from his waist down looked like one black lightning bolt rather than legs. Arms led to two giant white block shaped gloves for hands. And his voice...

"Hello hello!" Lord Death sounded like a very old man with a sing song tone that you just couldn't take seriously. "You all know why we're gathered here today! Make some friends, enjoy the free food! The partnerships you make here could very well save the world! That is all."

A few voices started up again but the boy behind Lord Death stepped forward and cleared his throat. He was wearing a black suit, unwrinkled and straightened with perfection. His black hair fell over golden eyes and three white horizontal stripes started at the center of his hair and continued back from the left.

"Hello everyone. I just wanted to add to what my father has said. You are gathered here today to try and form a partner bond between weapon and sorcerer. As you all know the madness that has plagued us and the humans for years is getting restless once again. New dangers threaten to arise from the abyss and endanger our world. To figure out why this is happening, we have already deployed weapon-sorcerer partners-"

"Yahooooooo!" Balckstar had climbed to the top of the drapes behind the stage. He was waving his arm around and Maka looked away, embarrassed to know him. "I AM THE MIGHTY BLACKSTAR! ONE DAY I SHALL SURPASS GOD! ALL OF YOU MORTALS SHOULD BE LINING UP TO ASKING TO BE MY WEAPON PARTNER! I-"

"QUIET YOU FOOL! YOU RUINED MY SPEECH, IT WAS GOING TO BE PERFECT! NOW I WILL NEVER GET IT RIGHT!" the son of Lord Death yelled up at Blackstar, waving his arms with his hands clenched into fists in annoyance.

"You're just jealous you aren't as big a star as me!"

"Ahem," Lord Death interrupted. "We're all friends here! Let's start the music and be social!"

The music started playing and a few people moved onto the dance floor as Soul smirked and turned to Maka.

"Is Blackstar always like that?"

Touching the back of her head Maka gave an awkward and embarrassed smile. "Pretty much. You get used to it though. Most of the time."

"MAKA! WHERE ARE YOU MAKA? PAPA IS HERE!"

"Who's that?" asked Soul, rolling up on his tiptoes and peering in the direction of the voice calling Maka's name.

"No one important," Maka answered through gritted teeth, her eyes on the ground. "I have to-"

"MAKA!" Suddenly a man with long red hair in a black suit was attached to Maka. "DADDY LOVES HIS LITTLE GIRL!"

"Maka-CHOP." The book was back in Maka's hand and a vein twitched in her forehead. The red haired man was now laid out on the ground. He groaned pathetically. "Soul, this is my father, Death Scythe Spirit. That's all you need to know about him. He won't ever be around."

"Maaaaakaaa, why don't you love meeeee?" Spirit cried pathetically from the floor. "Wait." In half a second he was standing again. "Is that a BOY!? WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH MY MAKA?!"

"MAKA-CHOP!"

And Spirit was down yet again, crying and whining.

"Should we be leaving him like that?" Soul enquired as Maka dragged him away from Spirit's prone form.

"Yes. He's fine," she muttered.

"Since we're already headed in the right direction, I have something I wanted to show you," Soul said.

Stopping, Maka looked over her shoulder at him. "You do?"

"Yes," he replied, taking the lead and holding the door open into the hall for her. "Though it's more something I want you to listen to." After she stepped into the hall he led the way once again.

"What is it Soul?"

"If you're going to be my partner, you should hear what I feel in my soul," he told her.

Curiosity kept Maka quiet as Soul led her into a music room that was filled with a grand piano. Without a word Soul pulled out the bench, sat and folded up the fall. His fingers caressed the keys.

And then he played.

The melody was dark, and a little twisted. It was filled with hope and loneliness, past disappointments and future dreams. Her body slowly swayed with the music as she watched Soul's jerky and passionate motions.

Closing her eyes for a moment, she accessed her soul perception and opened them again. In her view Soul's soul had spiky hair and a crooked smile. It was blue, and a little twisted, but loyal to a fault. She couldn't help but smile. When Soul's song came to an end, she clapped.

This time, he turned and grinned at her, his soul echoing the satisfied feeling she could read on his face. With a blink all she could see again was Soul.

"Want to be my partner?" he asked.

Holding out her hand, Maka answered, "Yes."

Standing, he went and shook it. It was like a puzzle piece clicking into place.

"MAKA!"

* * *

((Please tell me what you think! I'd love to hear from anyone out there who's reading this. Comments, questions, suggestions? Also, the next chapter will probably be a while, since I am very busy tomorrow.))


	4. Interruptions

"MAKA! PAPA WILL SAVE YOU FROM THE EVIL BOY!"

Soul jumped at the shout and grew claws out of reflex, tugging Maka by their joined hands.

Standing firm against Soul's tug, Maka's book appeared in her hand again. The vein in her head looked like it was going to burst.

Spirit popped into the room and charged at Soul. "STAY AWAY FROM-"

"Maka-chop," the words were low and filled with loathing. Spirit stood frozen, the binding of Maka's book firmly planted against his forehead.

"Soul is my weapon partner. We will be spending time together, studying together and _living together_. You will accept it or I am never going to speak to you again." With that the book dissolved and Maka stormed out of the room.

Spirit fell with a small crash and twitched. Deciding it wasn't a good idea to talk to the man who had called him an "evil boy" (how uncool was that?) Soul grinned as he followed after Maka.

She stomped back into where the gathering was still taking place. Soul trailed after her, his hands tucked into his pockets. There were a lot of people on the dance floor, though some were at the tables arranged by the food and drink bar. The music playing was one of the current hits from the human side of the border, which Soul didn't really liked.

Maka had stopped just before the dance floor, clenching and unclenching her fists.

"So... where will we be living then?" Soul asked.

With a start, Maka turned to him. "Oh, sorry Soul. All the students of the joint school have their own small apartments together as dorms. We'll be room mates." She smiled sweetly and Soul found his lips twitching in response.

"Better than living at my family's unused mansion." Soul scanned the crowd, at a loss for what to say next.

BANG!

The entire room fell silent of chatter as the cheery music played on, oblivious to the fact that its audience was no longer listening. As if pulled by invisible strings, everyone turned to the entrance where a swamp green dragon had crashed through the doors onto the floor. Its head was shaped like a crocodile, with dagger-like teeth and a perpetual grin. The dragon was bleeding through numerous wounds and a man who didn't look too much better rolled off its back. Skin peeling away in the design of bandages, a dark skinned woman was left lying in the dragon's place. Her dreadlocks did nothing to disguise the blood that leaked down the bandages around her face and her back was criss-crossed with cuts down to her green-camouflage cargo pants.

"Lord Death! We need backup immediately in the western swamp area. We left behind some troops but I don't think they can handle the creature on their own," the blue skinned man announced. His eyes were completely white. Like the girl he had dreadlocks and more wounds than Soul wanted to count. His hair was held back by a black bandanna with what appeared to be a metal plate in the center. His black combat vest was torn, as were his black cargo pants.

"Oh dear, someone should take Sid and Naigus to be patched up. I'll also need a volunteer to go and fix our little problem," Lord Death replied. "Is it a creature from the abyss Sid?"

"Yes. It's wounded now but since it wasn't alone, Naigus and I weren't able to handle it on our own. You better hurry with the backup before it does more damage," Sid informed him.

"Yes, yes," Lord Death started.

"I'll handle it father. Liz! Patti!" the golden eyed kid with the weird stripes in his hair called and two girls who were obviously related joined him on stage. They both had golden hair but one was taller and more serious looking with longer hair while the shorter one with shorter hair was already hooting with excitement to get going. Soul couldn't make out their eye colour from where he was standing, but they were both wearing the same outfits, so they were possibly twins.

"Are you sure Kid? You might want to take someone along with you, just in case," Lord Death advised, his head tilting to one side.

"I'll be fine father," Kid replied. He then said something Soul didn't catch and suddenly a skateboard was floating by his feet.

Kid stepped up onto it and the sisters transformed around him in purple light. Both were smaller dragons with silver coloured bodies. In this form they were exactly the same, from wing tip to wing tip, head to tail. They each flew to Kid and perched on his shoulders. Without announcing his intentions his skateboard jolted into motion, causing two squeals from the dragons, one of terror and one of laughter.

"HEY!" Blackstar yelled as the skateboard zipped off above everyone's heads. "WHEN GODS SUGGEST YOU TAKE SOMEONE WITH YOU, YOU SHOULD DO IT!" but Kid was already out the door before Blackstar even finished.

"YOU AREN'T LEAVING WITHOUT THE GREAT BLACKSTAR!" Blackstar charged past Soul and Maka, knocking over someone who was going to help Sid and making everyone's clothes ripple.

"Wait! Blackstar! You shouldn't go alone either!" A girl with a long black ponytail ran after Blackstar, apologizing to the downed man as she went and then transformed in a puff of smoke. A small pure black dragon flew off in a rush after Blackstar.

"We should probably go after him too. Just in case he needs us," Maka said to Soul, then tilted her head to look up at him.

"Sounds good to me, this party was lame anyway," he answered.

Grinning Maka tugged on his hand and ran off after Blackstar.

When they got into the hall Soul pulled Maka to a stop.

"Soul?" she looked at him questioningly.

In an expanding white glow, Soul shifted shape into his dragon form. As tall as a horse with long legs and red eyes he crouched down. His pure white scales shone dully in the light, the horns around his head gleamed, as did his claws. The claw on what would have been his index finger of his human hand was long and curved like that of a velociraptor.

Taking the hint, Maka quickly swung up onto his back, then he took off after Blackstar and Kid.

* * *

((Finally some action! Please tell me what you think, I love to hear from those who are reading!))

((I don't know how regularly I will post, it'll depend on my mood and what's going on in my life. If I know there will be a break, I'll let you guys know at the bottom of my chapters like this or on my profile.))


	5. Ape Attack

Kid knew exactly where he was going. There had been a disturbance in the swamp Sid was referring to earlier in the week. He had been with his father when it was reported.

The land below flew by in a blur, the city streets and houses fading away as he flew over the plains sparely populated by trees. The place the plains met the forest was the swamp he was looking for, where the slow moving river ran shallow.

"Kid! Do we have to fly so fast? This isn't safe!" Liz wailed, her claws digging into his suit, wings clenched tight to her sides.

"Wheeeee! Ahahaha!" Patti laughed, clinging to his shoulder, wings spread in pure enjoyment.

"Yes, Liz, we need to get there as soon as possible. Please loosen your grip on my shoulder, if you rip my coat I will have to rip the other side to keep it symmetrical and I like this suit," Kid answered absently, his eyes scanning for...

There!

A black creature that was tearing up what appeared to be a building and a few flashes of light indicated other sorcerers were down there attacking it. A large red shape that was probably a dragon was near it as well. Kid sped up as the red was thrown aside by the black creature.

"Nooooooo! Kiiiiiiiiid! Don't go faster!" Liz yelled as Kid felt the prick of her claws even through the layers of fabric.

Patti laughed louder. "Wahooo!"

"I'll be stopping soon enough Liz, not to worry," Kid answered her.

"That's what I'm worried about! A sudden stop ending in all of us dying!"

"Crash! BOOM!" Patti yelled.

"That won't happen with me in control Liz, you have nothing to worry about."

Liz didn't really reply, just made sounds like she was crying and Kid tuned it out, used to her reactions to these kinds of situations. She was a strong girl, he trusted her to be able to handle it. What concerned him more was the battle being fought that they were still too far away from.

Getting closer Kid was able to make out the shape of the beast that was attacking what appeared to be a farm. It's arms were large and muscled like a giant ape, instead of a monkey's face though it had what appeared to be a skull with more eyes than it should have. The entire creature was blurry around the edges, like it was blending in with the world around it. The red did indeed turn out to be a dragon, a sword class one judging by it's sharp tail and compact body. He was sure the claws looked like blades, though he couldn't see them from here.

Judging by the way it was moving, the dragon was hurting. From the low frequency of spells being fired at the madness beast, the sorcerers weren't doing much better either.

"Liz, Patti, we're going in firing, those people need cover so they can get out of here," Kid informed his partners.

"Right!" Patti answered, her joyful cheers quieting to giggles as she focused.

"R-right," Liz replied shakily, her grip on his shoulder adjusting as she quieted too.

Focusing, Kid channelled his energy into Liz and Patti, their energy bounced back into him as well, forming a steady cycle between them.

The black creature roared loudly, it's form clearly towering over the four sorcerers left behind by Sid and Naigus. One sorcerer was down but still conscious and the other three were valiantly trying to hold the beast off. The dragon transformed back into his human form and rolled into cover as the monster smashed where he had been standing.

Patti fired the first shot from her mouth, hitting the creature on the head and causing it to let out a terrible scream. Liz shot a second later, both of them alternating perfectly while Kid built up a spell with their combined energy.

"Death Fire," Kid called, holding his palms out in front of him. A skull shaped fireball shot out from his palms and hit the creature in the chest.

Another screech rent the air as the smell of smoke seeped into Kid's nose.

"I'm a representative of Lord Death. You can leave the slaying of this creature to me. Go seek medical attention," ordered Kid as Liz and Patti created more cover fire for the tired fighters.

"Thank you!" one of them called. Not needing any more prompting, the dragon ran to the injured woman and transformed. They got her up on the dragon's back and hastily retreated.

As the smoke from the Death Fire cleared, Kid slowed to a stop, getting a clear view of the monster up close. Watching how its body almost seemed to fade into the air was eery. It's eyes went from yellow at the outside to red where the pupil should be.

"Kid, what is that thing?" Liz asked after she fired her shot.

Patti fired her shot as Liz spoke, then laughed.

"It's an abysmal-ape. This one has taken a high amount of damage which you can tell by how faded it is around the edges. They have a standard level of intelligence and-"

The ape's mouth opened and a red beam shot out. Kid dodged it by jumping off his skateboard and grabbing it as he fell. He dropped to the ground and did a roll to avoid hurting his legs from the fall.

"They shoot beams of energy," Kid continued, then froze. "Liz! DID I GET DIRT ON MY SUIT?" He stood up and waved his arms in emphasis.

"What? IS THIS REALLY THE TIME TO BE WORRYING ABOUT YOUR CLOTHING?"

"I CAN'T CONCENTRATE UNLESS I'M PERFECTLY SYMETRICAL!" Kid stomped his foot as he spoke.

The abysmal-ape charged at them as Liz yelped and Patti laughed. Liz twisted around looked at Kid's back. There was a stripe of dirt from his right hip to his left shoulder blade.

"YOU'RE FINE. YOU CAN'T EVEN REALLY NOTICE IT," Liz lied. "NOW MOVE!"

A huge hand barely missed them as Kid dodged yet again.

"ARE YOU CERTAIN? I NEED TO BE SURE," Kid yelled back.

"YES, CAN WE PLEASE FOCUS ON THE GIANT MONKEY TRYING TO KILL US?"

"If you're sure," he said, stepping aside so a fist barely missed him and jumping over it as it came at him from the side.

"Yes!"

"Liz! Patti!" Kid commanded.

"Right," they both answered together.

"Soul Resonance," the three of them said together.

Liz and Patti both grew in their transforming purple light. Kid put his hands on top of them. The girls began to meld into one large form, becoming a dragon with two heads, two tails and one body. They had four legs, four wings and were a silver-grey colour. Their body was smooth, and still perfectly symmetrical in dragon form. As they solidified Kid launched himself up onto their back, perching where their twin necks connected to their bodies. They were now taller at the shoulder than he was while standing.

With two flaps of their mighty wings the sisters were airborne. Kid mentally prepared their spell, gathering energy as the sisters dodged another beam of red fired by the abysmal-ape.

"Soul resonance stable. Noise at zero-point-three percent," Liz announced. All three of them were surrounded by a black energy that crawled up and down them like electricity.

"Black Needle wavelength charge complete, feed back in four seconds," Patti said, echoing the same business-like tone Liz had used cheerily.

Red bands formed around Liz and Patti's necks, moving down towards their heads in a repeating pattern.

"Three," Liz counted, and they dropped to dodge another red beam, a red glow surrounding both her head and Patti's.

"Two!" Patti put in.

The glow made it look like they were wearing helmets in the shape of skulls.

"One," Liz said.

"Ready to fire!" Patti told Kid.

"Death Cannon!" Kid called, firing his energy through both Liz and Patti. The twins opened their mouths and the energy fired in twins bursts of sound and light.

BOOM.

The abysmal-ape was fully encompassed by the energy they had fired. Its roar was cut off and when the smoke cleared it was gone.

The girls landed. As their form turned to purple light Kid slid off their back. They became tiny dragons again and landed on his shoulders.

"That was easy." Kid's tone was casual as he looked around at the destruction.

"HEY! YOU!"


	6. Symmetry and Introductions

"What is it now?" Kid asked.

"I think it's that blue haired kid from earlier," Liz replied peering back the way they had come. She and Patti both shape changed back to their human forms. "I think he said his name was Blackstar."

The dust cloud stopped in front of them and it was, indeed, Blackstar. His coat and tie from earlier were gone and his dress shirt was very wrinkled. Wondering how her sorcerer was taking it Liz looked to Kid and noticed his eye twitch.

Patti giggled loudly. "Blackstar! Messy-blue-star!"

Grinning Blackstar made a peace sign at Patti. "That's me. Kid! You should take back up when a God suggests it. Not everyone is a star like me." He pointed his thumb to his chest. "You could get hurt."

"I already handled the situation, there is no need for your lecture," Kid informed him, placing his hands in his pockets. His expression was cool and Liz knew Kid hated how Blackstar looked but wouldn't try to fix his clothing.

_Thankfully he restricts that to Patti and I_, Liz thought. _Though I don't enjoy it when he does it to me_.

Blackstar looked around. "Well, you didn't do a very good job at keeping the creature from doing more destruction. Look at that building, it's all rubble," he said, pointing behind Kid.

Turning, Kid looked at the building and froze.

Liz turned as well and instantly realized what the problem was. There was only one wall of the building standing and half of it was missing. He was going to have a break down about the lack of-

"It isn't symmetrical! LIZ! PATTI! FIX IT!"

"How am I supposed to do that? I'm not a construction worker," Liz answered, her tone was distant. This wasn't the first time Kid had demanded they do something so odd.

Laughing, Patti said cheerily, "Kid is goin' craaaaazy."

"THEN TEAR IT DOWN! I CAN'T STAND IT!"

"Yes, sir, Kid sir!" Patti saluted and ran over to gave the brick wall a shove at the center. It fell with a crash. "BOOM! Ha ha ha!"

"Was that necessary? It was just a wall," Blackstar commented.

"JUST A WALL!?" Kid turned on him. "IT WAS AN EYESORE AND IMPERFECT!"

"It isn't any worse than the dirt all over your back," replied Blackstar.

"D-dirt? IS IT SYMMETRICAL DIRT?"

"Not unless a stripe going like this is symmetrical," Blackstar answered, drawing a diagonal line in the air.

There was a moment of quiet and then Kid turned to Liz. "YOU SAID IT WASN'T NOTICABLE!"

"I'M SORRY I LIED! I DIDN'T WANT TO BE DESTROYED BY THE GIANT APE THAT WAS TRYING TO SQUISH US LIKE BUGS!" Liz yelled back, thoroughly annoyed with Kid's outburst.

Falling on his face with his knees on the ground, Kid beat the dirt with his fist. "I'm disgusting. I don't deserve to live. I'm not symmetrical at all."

"Oh Kid, it isn't that bad," Liz comforted as Patti giggled.

"I'm garbage," Kid sobbed.

"No, no you aren't!" Liz reassured. "You just need more dirt to fix it!"

Dumping dirt on Kid's back Patti laughed and smeared it around. "All fixed! Symmetrical Kid!"

"Really?" he asked.

"Yes, really," assured Liz, horrified by the amount of dirt now on her sorcerer.

Looking up at her face, Kid said, "I don't believe you. Your expression says I'm terrible."

"N-no!"

"Kid is perfect!" Patti sang, then clapped and giggled.

"Yes! You can't be garbage if you're perfect," Liz said, grasping onto her sister's support like a life-line.

"You're right," Kid said, standing up and dusting off his arms.

"Are you sure about that? You don't seem right in the head to me." Blackstar watched them with a look of confusion, scratching his head.

"Of course. I'm fine. I was just distracted by the asymmetrical building and dirt on my jacket," answered Kid matter of factually.

"Blackstar! You shouldn't run off alone like that! You could get hurt!" A small black dragon said. Her scales were rough looking, like sand paper and she had spikes all down her spine. She had two horns on the top of her head and three pointing back below each of her tiny ears. Her eyes were yellow like a cat's and her claws were jet black, as were her horns.

"A star like me get hurt? Don't make me laugh! Ha ha ha!"

Patti giggled along with Blackstar.

There was a puff of smoke and then a girl in a tan coloured dress and a ponytail that reached down to her waist appeared at Blackstar's side. Her eyes were a dark blue and her face spoke of a quiet inner strength. "I know you're strong Blackstar, but I still worry. You don't even have a partner yet."

"I guess you aren't perfect like me!" Giving her a grin, Blackstar asked, "Why don't you be my weapon partner Tsubaki? That way you can always be there and not worry about the great me."

Smiling sweetly, Tsubaki answered, "I would like that."

"Did we miss all the action?" a white dragon that Liz hadn't noticed asked.

"Ah!" Jumping in surprise, Liz held her arms up in defence. "Don't sneak up on a person like that!"

Patti was laughing and playing with something in the ruins of the former building, saying something about giraffes.

"A cool guy doesn't sneak up on his allies," the dragon informed her.

"It looks like we weren't needed here after all," a girl said from the dragon's back.

Liz wasn't sure how the girl could sit on a dragon's back in a dress that short and not be showing her panties, but somehow she managed it. The girl swung her leg over and slid off the dragon's back, which allowed him to shape shift back into a person in a flash of white light.

Side by side the two of them were a sharp contrast, even as well dressed as they both were. The boy's messy hair and relaxed posture was very different from the girl's tied up hair and erect posture. Liz looked down and sure enough, the boy's shoes were scuffed while the girl's weren't.

"Perhaps introductions are in order? I'm Death the Kid and these are my weapon partners, Liz," he gestured towards her and she waved, "and Patti Thomson."

Patti came bouncing up when her name was said. "Hi, hi! Your eyes are funny," she informed the red eyed boy, getting all up in his face.

"Patti! People don't normally say those kinds of things." Liz was blushing and pulling her sister back, hoping she hadn't offended the guy.

"It's cool. I'm Soul and this is Maka," he said, gesturing at Maka with his thumb.

"You all know I'm the mighty Blackstar," Blackstar said with a grin. "And this is Tsubaki, my partner."

"Congratulations! Soul and I both decided to be partners too," Maka said with a smile.

"Now that we're all introduced, we should do a quick check of the area and then head back to the gathering. It's better safe than sorry after all," instructed Kid.

"I-"

"Oo, a kitty!" Patti shouted, pointing towards the swamp water.

Everyone turned and was greeted by the sight of a huge, black cat-like creature stalking them, a few smaller black beasts following at its heels.


	7. Never be Distracted Near Enemies

((Sorry for the switching points of view, it was the only way for the chapter to make any sense at all.))

* * *

**((Tsubaki's POV))**

Tsubaki noticed a sound from behind and spun, spotting more smaller creatures.

"We're surrounded," Soul said.

"They must have sneaked up on us while we were talking," Kid answered and Tsubaki caught the flash of purple of his dragon partners transforming.

"'Never let yourself be distracted in enemy territory,'" Maka said, sounding like she was quoting someone. "We shouldn't have assumed it was safe. Soul, transform."

"Tsubaki," she turned her head to see Blackstar looking at her, "you should transform as well."

Tsubaki nodded. "Right." In a puff of smoke she changed into a larger one of her forms, about the size of a big dog with the same rough scales and body, she had no wings. Her claws were sharp as was the blade on her tail.

And that was when the creatures around them attacked. She jumped out of the way of the slash of the leg that was a blade of the creature in front of her. It had four of them that it stood on and no feet. The body the legs held up was round and had more eyes than Tsubaki had time to count as she slashed her tail at it in retaliation.

Her tail sliced through where the leg that had attacked met its body and the black thing hissed and fell back, it's yellow-red eyes seeming to glare at her. Its oddly shaped jaw opened, grey teeth gleaming as it launched itself at her.

Suddenly, a fist smashed it down to the earth and it twitched before vanishing in a black mist.

"I've got your back Tsubaki," Blackstar said with a grin, then twisted to block a blow that had been aimed for his side.

There was a flash of fire and the four blade-legged creature was blown away from Blackstar.

"Thanks, Kid!" Blackstar called, and then he leaped into another attack.

Taking a moment to gauge her surroundings, Tsubaki noticed that Kid, Liz and Patti were the only ones working as a unit. She, Blackstar, Maka and Soul were each acting individually and the results were far less spectacular than what the trio were doing together.

_We really need proper training for this_, Tsubaki thought as she engaged another enemy.

* * *

**((Kid's POV))**

"This isn't working at all," Kid muttered to himself, shooting another ball of fire to cover one of the students below him. "Can't you all learn to work together?" he called to them in annoyance. "The madness can do it better and you're supposed to be partners!"

"We've never fought together!" Maka retorted.

"You are doing so now, so act like it!" Kid ordered.

"A STAR LIKE ME DOESN'T NEED TO 'ACT' LIKE ANYTHING," Blackstar yelled back.

This left Kid completely frustrated but he knew there was no point to arguing. "Idiot," he muttered as he blasted another beast.

Liz and Patti were trying to hold back the feline creature who seemed to be the one keeping the smaller ones organized. It kept making sounds and the creatures around it would react to it, as if it were commanding them.

That gave Kid an idea...

"Maka! Soul! There's a partial wall left from the building that stood here before. It's about ten paces back from your location. Move to put it at your backs!" he ordered.

Glancing behind her, Maka shouted back, "Right!" and started back herself towards it, careful with her footing. Soul helped her clear the way.

"Blackstar! Tsubaki! You need to make your way to the same position. Think you can do that?" he questioned as he shot a quick lightning ball at the creature that was about to pounce on Tsubaki's side.

"Yes!" Tubaki called back as Blackstar answered, "On it!"

"Kid!" Liz shouted, bringing his his attention to the creature that had jumped towards his hovering skateboard.

He jolted to the left and it nicked his arm. "Damn it!" he swore, grabbing his arm. "Not the time to get distracted by symmetry," he chanted under his breath a couple times, but it didn't work.

"Patti!" he cried desperately and the little dragon cut his other arm. Admittedly is was shallower but...

"Thank you!" Able to focus again he ignored Liz's comments about neurotic tendencies and Patti's giggles. Maka had made it safely to the wall with Soul but Blackstar and Tsubaki were having difficulties.

"Maka! Help me clear a path for Tsubaki and Blackstar to get to your position. Soul! Cover her while she does so," commanded Kid.

They both followed his orders without replying and he was pleased with the results. The four of them now had a defensible position and since they were closer together, were forced into working more as a team. Granted, it was very clumsy at times and they kept bumping into each other, but it was a definite improvement to each of them working on their own.

No longer needing to provide cover fire for them, he focused his sights on the feline creature who was the leader.

The creature seemed to notice his attention and its head turned up to look at him as well. It let out a scream and two of the four legged creatures leaped up at him. Patti shot one before it made it very far, and it landed with a sickening crunch. He and Liz fired at the second one at the same time and it made a sizzling sound as it dissipated into the air.

"You won't get us that easily," Kid told it. "Liz! Patti!"

"Right!"

* * *

**((Maka's POV))**

Maka gasped as she felt something strange, her gaze jerked up to where Kid was just as the three of them called, "Soul Resonance!"

"Maka, what is it?" Soul asked in concern, protecting her from one of the strange creatures that were still persistently attacking them.

Switching on her soul perception, Maka watched their souls sync. It was something she'd witnessed so rarely that she still wasn't used to how it felt. "Their resonance, I can feel it."

"It is impressive," Tsubaki murmured while cutting another creature in half.

"We'll be able to do that some day Tsubaki! We'll be the biggest stars in the world!" Blackstar bragged and then he dodged one of the creatures, only to get too close to Soul's tail. He ended up being smacked into the wall. "Hey! WATCH IT SOUL!"

"I wouldn't have to watch it if you weren't NEAR MY ASS. That isn't cool," Soul replied.

Blackstar laughed. "When you're as amazing as I am EVERYTHING you do is cool," he announced before launching himself back into the fighting.

Giving herself a mental shake, Maka did the same. She threw a stone at the nearest creature using a simple spell and it was thrown back by the blow. It was hard to try and work as a team. She wasn't even really used to working with Blackstar, he would always monopolize any physical team activity and ended up relying on her if it was a spell problem. He was intelligent, but he excelled more in fighting techniques than intellectual ones.

"Death Canon!"

There was a loud explosion and suddenly the creatures they were fighting became far less coordinated. Instead of fighting as a team and ganging up on the teens on the ground, they began to become a mess of tangled limbs as they bungled up attacks.

"Yahooo!" Blackstar yelled, smashing through multiple creatures at once. He laughed in delight.

Soon, not a single one of them was left standing and Maka wiped the sweat off her brow. Taking a deep breath she looked around.

Kid landed in front of them lightly, skateboard in hand. Liz and Patti transformed into human form at his sides.

"I think that's the last of them but we shouldn't let our guards down this time. Let's survey the area and meet back here after. Go with your partners and don't go far," Kid instructed them.

"We'll go in this direction!" Blackstar pointed. "I bet we'll be the first ones back after patrolling! Come on Tsubaki!"

"Right!" Tsubaki followed after Blackstar.

"We'll go this way then," Soul put in calmly and started to walk away, then glanced back at Maka. "Come on Maka, we'll be done soon."

Nodding, Maka followed Soul. Hopefully there wasn't anything else out there waiting to pounce...

* * *

((The next chapter may be a while, there's a lot going on over here that needs my attention. I always reply to reviews so feel free to send them!))


	8. Aftermath and Medusa

((The funeral is now over so I was able to get back to writing. No one I knew died but it was a rough time for me because my boyfriend knew the person and I had to look after his family member's kid's while the adults were busy.))

((Anyway, more story! I only switch POV once so I figure it isn't confusing enough to need to label it. Please feel free to review ^.^ ))

((Please note I have done some major editing of this chapter. It is no longer the same towards the end at all though it accomplishes almost the exact same thing as as before. Hope you enjoy it more now!))

* * *

The look around the battle zone had been uneventful, thankfully. Maka wasn't sure she would have been able to handle fighting any more creatures, she was exhausted. Blackstar, Tsbauki, Kid, Liz and Patti were all waiting for her and Soul by the time they got back. None of them had encountered any problems.

"Since we didn't find anything, we should head back to the gathering," Kid was saying when Maka finally noticed something.

"Kid! You're bleeding!" Maka exclaimed, pointing towards his left arm. There was an expanding dark stain on his sleeve, she could see the red on his arm where it was torn.

"Yes, I am. It isn't too deep, I'll be fine," Kid replied casually, putting his hands in his pockets. "The sooner we get back, the sooner I can treat it."

"Shouldn't you worry about infections?" Soul asked.

"I'm a demigod, I'm not effected by many poisons or diseases," Kid informed him.

"Ha! I never get sick either! A STAR LIKE ME WOULD NEVER BE TAKEN DOWN BY A COLD!" Blackstar butted in.

"That's because you're too stubborn to stay down," Maka muttered. "I bet Soul and I can get back to the city before you Blackstar."

"YOU'RE ON!" A second later Blackstar was gone.

"Wait! Blackstar!" Tsubaki called, there was a puff of smoke and Tsubaki was a winged dragon again, flying off after Blackstar.

"She's got her job cut out for her," commented Soul.

"She does, but they seem to fit much better than I thought they would. I was starting to wonder if he'd ever find a partner. This was our second gathering together," Maka told them, feeling close to these people which she hadn't felt with anyone but Blackstar in a long time.

"We never attended a gathering without Kid," Liz observed.

"So you met the first time you went to one?" Maka asked.

"Well, not exactly," replied Liz, looking very embarrassed.

Patti laughed, "We met on the street! Remember Kid? Boom boom!"

"I remember. Beelzebub," Kid said and his floating skateboard appeared at his side. "Let's get going, I need to patch up my arms. Coming Maka, Soul?" He stepped up onto his board.

"Yes," Maka smiled and Soul crouched down for her to get on.

"Don't wait up for us, I'll be going slower this time," Soul told him.

"As much as I'd like to heal them up quickly I won't leave you both behind. You're tired and it isn't safe," Kid informed him as Liz and Patty landed on his shoulders. "Besides, I heal quickly."

"Wait, why don't I cast a quick spell to heal them up now?" Maka asked. "Soul can watch for anyone coming so we don't get ambushed."

"If you're certain..." Kid sounded unsure about this.

"Let her fix up your arms Kid, we aren't going to be getting back to the gathering anyway. Remember how long it took you to get ready the first time?" Liz asked.

"Kid the girly girl!" Patty laughed and flapped her wings, still in dragon form.

"Alright," Kid said with a sigh and both girls transformed back into people on the ground below as he stepped off of Beelzebub.

"You can transform back too if you want Soul," Maka told him.

"Nah, I'm good. I have better eyesight this way," he explained.

Nodding, Maka turned to Kid. "Why don't you sit on your skateboard? That way you can be at the right height for me to fix your arms easily."

Kid nodded and moved the skateboard up with a gesture, then sat on it. He started to take off his jacket.

Patti went to draw in the dirt while making animal noises and Liz walked over to where Soul was standing, looking around.

Kid neatly folded his jacket and placed it beside him on the skateboard. Maka wondered why he had even bothered. The suit was nothing but garbage at this point, with the cuts and the blood stains, as well as the dirt she had seen on the back of it. It could be fixed but it wouldn't look any good if it was. He didn't seem like the type that would wear something that was patched up.

As he started to take his shirt off Maka found herself blushing, but quickly shook it off. His body was smooth but not overly muscled. It was very slim but not as defined as Blackstar's. Maka knew that it had to be deceiving, all sorcerers trained their bodies as well as their minds to become more disciplined, and he was a demigod. If your spells failed you, you still needed to be able to defend yourself.

She absently wondered what Soul's chest would look like naked in human form before forcing herself to focus again.

Maka let him fold up his shirt and set it at his other side before approaching him. Gently, she laid her hands over both the cuts, ignoring the blood getting on her fingers. With a bit of concentration she summoned the right spell. Her hands glowed green and the healing energy reached from her body into his.

It took a bit of time but soon her spell was finished and Maka lifted her hands to inspect her work. Both sides were now healed, with slight pink lines the only indication that there had been any damage done to his body at all.

"Thank you, Maka," Kid said.

She looked up to find his golden eyes on her and smiled. "You're welcome. Now you don't have to worry about patching up when you get back."

Nodding, Kid picked up his jacket and shirt, holding them in his arms. "We'll follow you all the way back to the city. No need to risk ourselves, especially after we won." Liz and Patti both went to their sorcerer, then shape shifted back into dragons to perch on his shoulders carefully.

Soul went up to Maka's side and she swung up onto his back, bracing herself with her hands. She nodded in reply to Kid as her body reminded her that it was tired. It had been hard to stay on while Soul was rushing to catch up with Blackstar, not to mention the lengthy fight. She hoped it would be easier now that he was going to go slower.

"Ready Maka?" questioned Soul.

"Yes, let's get back home," she replied and they set off for Death City.

Blackstar came back with Tsubaki to see what was taking them so long since he hadn't seen them behind him.

They all agreed to meet the next day for lunch. School wouldn't start for Maka, Soul, Blackstar and Tsubaki for another few days. Kid hadn't been to the joint dragon and sorcerer school, neither had Patti and Liz.

When they reached the main roads of Death City Kid left with his partners for his house.

"Do you think we could get Kid to join our classes Soul?" Maka asked as they made their way back to the gathering, trailing behind Blackstar and Tsubaki. They needed to figure out where they would be living and register for their new courses.

"I don't know, maybe you should ask him," Soul suggested.

"I think I will."

* * *

Medusa sat back in her chair and tapped her pen to her lips. The group of teenagers had done a good job destroying the madness creatures she had herded towards Death City. It was such a shame that Death the Kid had organized his group, a little death would have helped Chrona gain power.

She moved her mouse and zoomed the satellite in on the battlefield.

None of the madness creatures were left. There were craters where Kid had blasted the largest ones, but the destruction was the only sign they had been there at all. That was the reason some humans still doubted the madness creatures' existence. You'd think their memories would stretch far enough back to recall that four generations ago they had almost been wiped out by these beasts. Or, that they would even believe the reports that came in as sightings and destruction done by black monsters.

People could be so short-sighted, but that just made them easier to manipulate.

It was unfortunate that she hadn't been able to hear what they had all been saying at the end of the fight, her audio and ground video recording devices had been destroyed with Kid's final attack.

Kid had handled the situation far too easily for Medusa's liking, she would need find a better way of controlling these situations. Perhaps she should step-up her plans, possibly even recruit someone.

Smirking at the thought of making someone else do her biding, Medusa was jolted out of her thoughts by the sound of someone knocking on her office door.

She glared at it. Who could be interrupting her now? Everyone was attending that fool gathering.

"Miss Zmeya? Are you in there?"she heard a voice call through the wood.

Her pen snapped in her hand as her anger rocketed up, students were pests.

She dropped the useless remains of the pen in the garbage. Quickly turning her computer off and shutting her binder, Medusa went to the door. Turning on the light to the office, she opened it to reveal a red-headed girl.

"Is there something you need?" she asked, smiling politely at the student on the other side. Maybe she could use this girl for an experiment and get something productive out of the encounter.


	9. A Friendly Meal?

Soul leaned back in his chair, slouching. Maka had dragged him to the restaurant Kid had wanted to go to early. He didn't see why it was so important when no one else had even showed up yet.

"Are we even at the right place?" Soul asked again.

"Yes," Maka answered patiently, looking through the menu. "We had a table reservation, remember?"

"Why are you all dressed up? Isn't this a casual thing?"

"I wanted to for the restaurant we're at. Just because you didn't want to bother doesn't mean I share the sentiment. Why don't you choose what you want from the menu instead of staring off into space Soul?" enquired Maka, never looking up from what she was reading. She was dressed in a simple yellow sundress with small white dots all over it. Her hair was done up in her typical pig tails.

"I already chose. A burger and fries with a coke to drink," he informed her. He was dressed in a baggy pair of jeans and a red shirt with a grey logo on it. His hair was messy and he didn't feel the need to straighten it even though the restaurant they were in was clearly upper class.

The room they were in was spacious and had quite a few other diners in it. The men seated at the tables were wearing dress shirts, suits and ties. The women were all dressed just as smartly. Waiters and waitresses were wearing in matching formal outfits. The room had tan coloured walls with wood accents and plants arranged in various places.

_Must be a pain to keep them all watered_, Soul thought idly.

Lowering her menu, Maka looked at him. "Why would you eat something like that here?"

"Hm?" Soul's red eyes met her pupil-less green ones. "I've had many fancy dinners Maka. I like burgers and fries, why eat anything else?"

After a moment, Maka nodded. "I haven't eaten somewhere like this before, it must seem strange to you."

Shaking his head, Soul answered, "Not really, I never liked eating places like these."

"Hi Soul. Hi Maka," Tsubaki greeted and Soul looked up to see she was wearing a simple grey dress that was flattering to her form.

"Hi Tsubaki," Soul answered.

"Hello! Take a seat Tsubaki. There's a menu here for you," Maka told her, smiling.

"Where's Blackstar?" asked Soul as Tsubaki took a seat.

"I'm not sure, he said we would meet here. Haven't you seen him?" Tsubaki answered as she sat.

Soul went back to people watching.

"No, we haven't yet," Maka told her. There was a pause and then Maka added, "He knows where we are, we've walked by this restaurant together before. He'll be here Tsubaki, don't worry."

"Okay," Tsubaki answered.

Kid walked in with Liz and Patti just behind him to either side. Each of them walked very differently, Soul noted. Kid walked in slow measured paces, back straight with his hands in his pants pockets. Liz walked with a lazy feminine swing of her hips. Patti walked like a little kid, with bold exuberance and a carefree air.

Patti was laughing about something as Kid stopped by an empty seat.

"All here but Blackstar I see. Do you know when he'll be arriving?" Kid asked as Liz and Patti both took a seat.

"He should be here soon," Tsubaki answered, sounding embarrassed.

"He'll be late but that's fine I suppose," Kid answered.

Soul noticed that both Liz and Patti were wearing the same outfit again. They both had on red sweat shirts that showed off their bellies and white ties over them. Matching cowboy style blue and white hats sat on their heads. The top and rim of the hats were white with white stitching along the blue centers. He noticed Liz, who was sitting next to him, was wearing blue jeans so he assumed Patti was wearing the same.

"Not everyone is as particular about timing as you Kid," Liz remarked.

Sighing, Kid answered, "You're right, I have terribly high expectations."

Taking the time to look at Kid was wearing, Soul saw he was wearing a black suit. The jacket had horizontal white bands on the shoulders and down the center that were very similar to his hair. A skull pendant hung where a tie would be on his white dress shirt and he had matching skull rings on each hand on the same fingers.

_This guy is so particular_, Soul thought, his eyes half closing lazily.

After Kid took a seat the waiter seemed to materialize by his elbow.

"May I take your drink order while you wait for your last guest?" the waiter asked.

_So the guy knows who to suck up to for a tip_. Bored with the entire proceeding, Soul waited his turn to take his order. A quick look in Maka's direction proved she was enjoying it, but Soul saw that Patti seemed just as bored as he was.

Blackstar arrived just as the waiter was about to leave. He was wearing a dark blue shirt with a black star on the front and sweatpants.

"Hey guys! Sorry I'm late," Blackstar grinned and sat down in the remaining seat between Tsubaki and Patti.

"Blackstar!" Patti shouted in excitement, throwing up her arms.

"Hey Blackstar," Soul said while the other three girls all said hello as well.

"Can take Blackstar's drink order, and perhaps start taking the other orders while Blackstar decides what he wants to eat?" Kid asked the waiter.

"Certainly! What would you like?" he asked Blackstar, looking stuck up and not very impressed with Blackstar at all.

"Coke is fine," Blackstar responded absently, staring at his menu with a look of intense concentration.

"You should get the burger with fries," Soul suggested.

"That sounds excellent!" Blackstar exclaimed, quickly shutting the menu. "I'll get that."

The waiter looked offended that Blackstar hadn't waited his turn to order and Soul held back laughter, starting to really enjoy this lunch after all.

Everyone else said their order, except Patti, Liz ordered for her twin sister and they waited for their drinks to arrive.

"So Kid, have you considered going to the joint dragon and sorcerer academy to learn? We'll all be attending in the new class they're opening this semester," Maka said, and Soul looked over to see how Kid would respond.

"Well, being a demigod I hadn't considered attendance to the joint school. I've been tutored by my father and other dragon sorcerer partners all my life," Kid answered.

"Could we Kid? I'd love to be around people our own age for once," Liz put in.

"Friends! School! Books!" Patti yelled.

"I'll have to talk to father about it. I don't see why not," Kid replied.

"Yes!" Liz said and hugged Kid joyfully. "Thank you!"

"Woohoo!" Patti shouted, making several other customers jump.

Soul grinned at her enthusiasm as well as the looks on the faces of the other patrons.

"Liz, you'll wrinkle my jacket," said Kid, patting Liz's back awkwardly and looking unsure what to do with someone hugging him.

"Don't be so prickly Kid! I'm not ironing it the wrong way," Liz answered. She pulled back, still smiling. Kid's words didn't seem to be effect her at all, contrary to what she was saying.

Kid was straightening his pendant and jacket when their drinks arrived.

Patti's was chocolate milk and she instantly started to blow bubbles, earning her nasty looks from the table next to them. Soul played with the straw in his while Tsubaki, Maka and Liz chatted about school.

"Soul, would you like to shoot some hoops after we eat?" Blackstar asked, leaning forward on the table and swirling his drink around in the glass.

"Sure, why don't we all go as a group. Would you like to play basketball Kid?" Soul asked.

"I don't see why not, but I'd like to change out of my current clothing first. Do you girls want to play basketball after our meal?" Kid enquired.

"Sure!" Tsubaki answered.

"Basketball!" Patti exclaimed excitedly, "I wanna play too."

"You can count us in," Liz answered, then they all looked at Maka, who blushed.

"I don't know how to play," she muttered. "I can just bring my book along and read while you guys do it."

"No way! You've got to play with us Maka!" Blackstar told her.

"Play with us!" Patti yelled.

"It'll be fun Maka," Kid added.

"I don't know..."

"Don't be a stick in the mud," Soul put in when she showed signs of relenting.

"Alright, alright! I'll try it," Maka said, caving.

"Yay!" Patti shouted, earning glares.

Tsubaki and Maka started talking about what to wear while Liz and Kid started into and argument about Liz's nails. She had just chipped her nail polish and they were debating about whether or not Kid could fix it. Patti was playing with her fork and knife while Blackstar looked like he was going to fall asleep before their meal arrived.

The first to get their meals from the waiter were Kid, Liz and Patti, no surprise there.

"Where's mine?" Blackstar demanded as Patti was served animal shaped chicken pieces with fries and dipping sauces.

"It's coming in just a moment," the waiter said politely, his back stiffening.

"Some service, we should have all gotten served at once," Blackstar replied.

Soul agreed with him, the waiter was a suck up and he didn't much like it. Playing favourites was unprofessional, not that many cared. The waiter seemed to get steamed at Blackstar's words, but didn't comment, hurrying away to get the rest.

"You're right Blackstar. We'll wait until you're served before we start eating," Kid added.

Patti grabbed a giraffe shaped nugget. "Giraffe! Aren't you so cute!" She started walking it around her plate. "Giraffe, giraffe!" she sing songed happily, and Soul watched in amused confusion.

_You'd think it was a toy and not food_, he thought to himself.

Soon the waiter was back with the rest of the dishes, he made a point of serving Blackstar last and Soul saw that he wasn't the only one that noticed.

Kid watched him with a cold expression and Soul wondered what was going to happen next. Far from bored, he was actually enjoying the meal with his friends. And they were his friends he realized in surprise, even Kid, as stuck up as he seemed.

He let the sound of happy conversation wash over him as he ate, then was distracted by Patti.

"I WILL DEFEAT YOU SIR GIRAFFE!" she shouted, then smashed the giraffe head first into the dipping sauce.

This caused it to spray everywhere, and one large drop hit Blackstar square in the face. There was a dramatic pause where even Patti seemed to realize what she had done, then she started laughing.


	10. Kicked out or Leaving?

((You may want to read the chapter before to get the continuity and correct flow if you've been waiting for this one.))

* * *

Maka watched in horrified fascination as Blackstar slowly wiped the dark red dipping sauce off his face.

"Ha ha ha!" Patti laughed. "MR. GIRAFFE DEFEATED YOU!"

Blackstar grabbed Patti's hand that had the giraffe's and bit its head off. "Heh! I won."

Patti stared at her headless giraffe, then stuffed it in Blackstar's mouth.

"FINISH IT!" she yelled.

Blackstar made choking sounds as he tried to push Patti away. Tsubaki, Maka and Liz all jumped up as if to help up but he managed to push her off first.

"I SWALLOWED THAT WHOLE!" Blackstar yelled as everyone watched in stunned surprise. Patti started to laugh and Blackstar shoved a fry in her mouth in retaliation.

Without hesitation Patti ate it, then slapped a dipping sauce covered whale on his face.

"THAT WASN'T MY MOUTH!" shouted Blackstar and he threw a ketchup covered fry at her face.

That was when the food war began.

Maka ducked as fries came flying in her direction, but nowhere seemed safe. A burger bun splatted on the top of her head and fries landed in Soul's lap, a few of the other guests were caught in the cross-fire.

Tsubaki and Liz helplessly tried to stop it while Soul just laughed. Maka tried to stay clean as Kid finally seemed to find his voice.

"YOU ARE BOTH RUINING THE WONDERFUL SYMMETRY IN THIS ROOM. CEASE THIS AT ONCE," Kid yelled.

"STOP!" the outside voice seemed to be the deciding factor which made both Patti and Blackstar pause comically mid-motion to stare. A burger patty dropped off Patti's shoulder to land on the floor with a plop.

"You all need to leave. This behaviour is disgraceful. I'll be sure to tell Lord Death of your behaviour Death the Kid. I would ask you to never return here," a woman who was miraculously clean said. Her name tag clearly stated she was the manager.

Both Patti and Blackstar lowered the food they had been holding, and straightened. Maka could tell that neither of them wanted Kid to get in trouble by the looks on their faces.

Standing, Kid straightened his jacket, then turned to face the manager. "I would not come back here if you begged me. My friends may have acted inappropriately in your establishment, but they were not the only ones to do so.

"Your staff did not see fit to offer my friends drinks when they were seated. They were ignored until I and my dragon partners arrived. Not only that, the waiter that served us, Dominic by name, showed clear favouritism. I have not witnessed such unprofessional conduct here before. I have always paid well when coming to your restaurant and previously your service was excellent, but your treatment of my friends was distasteful. Go ahead and tell my father what happened, I will be telling all of the sorcerer-dragon partners of your disgrace. My service will go to other eateries in the future," Kid clearly informed her.

"If you have issues with my bill, you can speak to my bank. I'll let them know of the issue here and leave a suitable sum available to deal with your flustered feathers. Good day," he turned from the manager, clearly dismissing her.

"Shall we go?" Kid asked them.

"Yeah, we can get better meals in a burger joint I know," Soul answered, standing.

"Sounds good to me," Blackstar agreed.

The rest of the girls agreed and Tsubaki smiled softly at Kid. Maka was very proud to call them friends, she held back a giggle at the look on the manager's face as Kid turned and started leading them out.

Spotting a fry on Kid's shoulder, Maka held back a laugh and hurried her step to catch up with him. Plucking it off his shoulder, she dropped it on the floor.

Turning his head, Kid shot her a questioning look.

"Just fixing your suit for you," she said with a smile.

He smiled back. "Thank you, Maka. I think we'll have to meet up at another time for eating at the place you mentioned Soul. I need to get home and change." His entire body shuddered before he repressed it.

"We'll meet for basketball at three?" Kid asked quickly, his step increasing in pace.

"Sure, sounds good to me," Soul answered.

"Right on!" Blackstar replied.

"I'll be there," Kid sounded as if he was barely holding back tears as he ran home.

"Bye!" Patti shouted with a laugh, chasing after Kid.

"I'll make sure we're there on time," Liz said, clearly embarrassed, then she chased off after the other two.

"He's one strange guy," Blackstar said, running his hand through his hair. Then a smile broke out on his face. "I'm glad he's our friend."

"Yeah, I am too," Maka answered, still smiling.

Looking at Soul and Tsubaki, she saw they both felt the same. And...

"I think we all need a bath," she said, touching her head and coming away with mayonnaise and ketchup.

"Yeah, it isn't cool to be wearing condiments. We can grab food and then head to the basketball court. I bet I can beat Blackstar one on one," Soul added.

"You're on!" Blackstar replied, then dragged Tsubaki away.

"Blackstar! We don't live together yet!"

* * *

"Kid! Are you alright in there?" Liz called through the bathroom door.

"Yes! I'm fine. I'm just cleaning up all the water. It wasn't symmetrical," Kid answered, the last part almost a mumble.

"Well hurry it up, your father wants to talk to you," Liz told him.

"Is it about the restaurant?" questioned Kid, sounding far more focused now.

"I don't know, he wouldn't say. He wants you to scry him back to him as soon as you can," Liz answered, leaning against the wall by the door.

It opened shortly after, the ceiling ventilation fan was clearly going, because there was no steam to be seen after Kid's long shower. He was wearing a white dress shirt and black pants.

"I'll get the maid to finish cleaning in here," he said as he stepped into the hall, his hair still damp with water.

Nodding, Liz stood straight and then followed Kid to his living room. It contained the largest mirror in the house, used for communication, like scrying with Lord Death. Patti was already in there, sitting at a table and scribbling away on paper using a crayon.

This room, much like the rest of the house, was mostly black and white. The mirror stood against a dark wood mantle piece with an even amount of candles on each side. The candles were spaced perfectly, with the same number on each side, much like the paintings on the walls. There were two couches, two tables, three chairs and two tables with lamps on them. Everything was symmetrical, perfectly placed and measured consistently by Kid.

Kid stepped in front of the large mirror with Liz standing behind his left shoulder. With his finger he drew the numbers on the glass, leaving behind a glowing blue imprint.

"Forty-two, forty-two, five-hundred-sixty-four," he said quietly as he traced them. After it the numbers were completed, there was a small ringing sound and then Lord Death's form appeared on the mirror.

"Hello!" Lord Death greeted them. "Thanks for scrying back so quickly Kid."

"Not a problem father. May I ask why you needed to speak to me so promptly?"

"Yes, something has come up that I need you to investigate. It seems humans that were identified as technological extremists were spotted crossing over our border. We're worried they might be here to cause some havoc and want someone to try and find them. They seem to have dropped off the radar," Lord Death informed him.

"We'll leave shortly. Do you have their last known location?" Kid asked.

"On the road headed to Emerald City," said Lord Death.

There was a pause. "Isn't that where we're developing the new magics?" Liz asked.

"The very same," Kid answered. "We'll leave immediately. Father, could you sign my partners and I up for the new class for sorcerer-dragon partners and inform our teachers we'll be missing our first classes?"

Lord Death's head tilted to one side. "Certainly Kid, but why would you be joining the Academy? Are you not enjoying your lessons?"

"The lessons are fine, but I believe we need the social interaction. I will be taking your place one day father, I'll need friends," Kid told him. "We need to get ready. I'll contact you for further details while we're travelling."

"Good luck Kid!"

* * *

((This is why I love Kid X3))


	11. Raids and Camping Trips

((Long chapter because I'll be gone for a while and I wanted to do two scenes at once XP I'll probably only not update for a few days, don't worry about an extended trip away or anything))

* * *

The night was dark, mist crawled up off the water and onto the docks. Silence stretched except the distant sound of conversation and laughter. Buildings hunched together along the waterside like chilled pigeons against the cold. It was a singularly boring evening.

As if to underscore his mental analysis he heard a snore. Looking over his shoulder she saw Patti had fallen asleep curled up in the door of the building at his back.

Shaking his head, he looked back out on the street, watching. He heard Liz come up behind him.

"Are you sure it'll be tonight?" she questioned quietly.

"Judging by the movement we've been seeing, yes. They won't want to stay here long after all. A longer stay means more risk of exposure. If they want their plans to work, they have to act quickly," Kid answered in a low tone, his eyes not leaving the street in front of him.

"It's been days since they got here though. What makes you so sure it's tonight?" Liz asked, coming to stand beside him.

"Observation and a hunch," he replied. A shadow moved in the dark and Kid straightened, unfolding his arms. "Wake Patti, they've arrived."

Kid watched a few more shadows darted down the street as he heard Liz wake Patti.

"Remember, we need to be quiet to take the bad guys by surprise Patti," Liz told her.

"Okay, but shooting at them isn't very quiet big sis," Patti replied sleepily.

Hearing the two of them approach he said, "Liz, Patti." Seconds later they were seated on his shoulders in dragon form.

With a quietly murmured spell the colour from the world around them faded, turning everything to shades of grey. The spell had made them blend into the shadows and muffled any noises they may make. It was very useful when sneaking up on someone as they were.

"Kid, why didn't we just wait inside the warehouse?" Liz whispered in his ear.

"We didn't know which one they would choose to infiltrate and sabotage. We could have waited all night in the wrong building and completely missed them," he murmured in reply.

Patti yawned on his other shoulder and crouched down more, lying more firmly against him.

He took Liz's silence as understanding as he carefully made his way down the street. The spell wouldn't hold up in direct light and there were a few lights on the street. Mentally, he made a note to inform the companies that they needed far more lighting. Thieves loved shadows like these, and there were plenty of sorcerers that could make the same shield as this one.

Reaching the correct building, he turned on his soul perception and started to scan for their point of entrance. The soul perception would catch his attention if he looked directly at someone, even without clear lighting.

"Kid, can't you cast the spell to see easier in the dark?" Liz asked quietly.

Pausing, he considered that option, then shook his head. "It's far too likely that they know of that spell and brought lights with them. A bright light flashed in the face of someone with that spell on could be blinded for precious seconds. Better to go in with little visibility," Kid answered. He had already considered using that spell, but was glad Liz had thought to ask. She was an excellent partner.

Finally he spotted their point of entry, a slightly open door. Quickly, he pressed up against the building, even with the shadow spell, they could have infrared viewers that could see his body heat. Far better to be safe and not risk being seen.

Freezing for a moment, he wondered if he now had dirt on his suit. _It's black, it's fine_, he reassured himself. The building hadn't looked _that_ dirty to him during the day. He had viewed all of the likely targets while the sun was in the sky under the cover of a scheduled company inspection done early to make sure things were as they should be.

Taking a deep breath, he made his way to the door. A soul caught his attention, someone was watching the street from behind the cover of the door.

"Liz, I'll need your help with this spell," he whispered and he felt her nod.

They linked with ease and he felt the cycle of their energy. Gathering it to extend his reach, he mentally prepared the paralysis spell.

"Aim for the crack," he instructed her, then he sent the spell into her. There was slight pulse of red as she shot it out her mouth.

When it hit Kid jumped into action, pushing on the door and hoping the person who's soul he could see hadn't been leaning against it. The door eased open and he breathed a sigh of relief, then looked up at the face of the woman he had frozen.

He could tell she was female by the shape of her soul. Her hair was tied back in a ponytail and the right side of her face glinted with metal. Looking down Kid saw that her right arm was far more bulky looking and her hand also shone a bit.

_Metal enhancements_, Kid thought, _she must be the one that had the right arm and eye replacements. Birth defect turned cybernetic._

Having identified her as not one of the warehouse employees, he eased his way around her.

_One down, now if only they'd all be this easy_. He took a moment to simply let his eyes adjust to the darkness of the warehouse. It wouldn't do to trip over something and make enough noise to make everyone aware of his presence.

Able to see again he turned right and headed into the warehouse. Dull light filtered in through the windows as he followed the path he knew led to the stairs. Patti fluttered her wings sleepily on his shoulder.

"Are we there yet?" she whispered and Liz shushed her. "What?" she whisper-shouted. "I just wanted to know!"

A light glowed up ahead and Kid crouched down, jarring Liz and Patti on his shoulders. Liz held on tight and Patti giggled a bit.

Kid didn't see any souls but that just meant there wasn't anyone in his line of vision.

If his memory was correct, the light was coming from where the stairs ascended. Sure enough, the light revealed the stairwell to the second floor, where the more touchy items were stored.

He slowly went upstairs, hoping he'd be able to spot anyone before they spotted him. "Patti," he said.

Kid joined his energy with Patti's as he readied another paralytic spell. Reaching the top he moved so he could see around the corner and his shoulder was angled just right so Patti had a clear shot in case...

"Who are you?"

* * *

Earlier that day...

Soul grunted under the weight of the backpack he was wearing. "I don't see why we had to go on our first field trip the second day of classes. Isn't this a little extreme?"

"Haha! This is nothing Soul. Last semester he made us go to the north pole to learn warmth spells correctly. We froze until we learned how to do them right," Blackstar explained.

"It wasn't that bad Blackstar, or it wouldn't have been for you had you actually paid attention and not started a duel in the middle of a lesson again. Stein doesn't punish us unnecessarily. Besides, I recall you saying that it 'wasn't that cold,'" Maka added.

Laughing, Blackstar said, "Oh yeah! I remember now. I won!"

"You did," Maka allowed.

Blowing hair out of his face, Soul looked up the path ahead of him where Maka appeared to be scaling the same steepness with ease. "If he had chosen a wider path to follow, I would have just transformed into a dragon to carry this," he said, adjusting his pack yet again and wishing it were lighter.

"I think that was the point," replied Maka. "Stein always tests our weaknesses so we can become stronger."

"I haven't even met the guy and he makes me take a hike through the forest up a cliff to spend days in the wilderness. Don't tell me he's a nature nut?" Soul asked.

"Not unless dissection counts..." he barely heard Maka say.

"What?" he asked.

"He likes dissecting things," Maka called back to him.

Not sure he heard her right, Soul asked, "Like frogs?"

"And birds, small animals, large ones, reptiles, ones we really shouldn't be dissecting at all..." Maka clarified.

"Wasn't the last one a fish?" Blackstar asked.

"No, it was a monkey," Maka corrected, sounding almost hesitant about answering.

"He sounds crazy," Soul put in.

Blackstar laughed and Maka seemed to shrug, it was difficult to tell while she was wearing a backpack.

The walk seemed to drag on and on. Soul started to pay less attention to what was going on around him as he focused on putting one foot in front of the other. He almost walked into Maka when she stopped in front of him.

"We're here?" he asked, looking around.

"Yes," Maka replied.

They were standing at the top of the cliffs they had been hiking up. There was a clearing at the top, as if people had cut back the surrounding forest to make the space. The ground was dirt and the group of students were setting down their packs, stretching and sitting. Without a thought, Soul let his pack slide down to the ground, careful not to let it land too hard. He rolled his shoulders, trying to ease the tenseness from his muscles.

"It took you all long enough to get here," a man called, stepping out from the cover of the trees. He lit a cigarette. Sunlight glinted off his glasses, hiding his eyes. The lab coat he wore looked like it was stitched together at the shoulders, cuffs and hem. The grey stitches refused to blend in with the pure white of his coat. His grey turtleneck underneath the coat looked like it had been stitched together from four different shirts haphazardly. Grey hair fell over his face and as he tilted his head back to blow smoke in the air, Soul finally spotted what truly made him seem so off. There was a gear by his left eye, sticking right out of his face like some parody of man and robot. His right eye was yellow-green, but his left... It had a metal plate reaching above and below a yellow cybernetic eye.

The most unusual thing about his eye, besides its colour, was the fact that he was a sorcerer and he still had it replaced with a cybernetic. Soul had never seen a sorcerer with anything cybernetic before.

"For those of you who don't know me, I'm Professor Franken Stein. I will be teaching you lessons on Soul Resonance and how best to sync yourselves with others," Stein told them, his cigarette now stuck in the corner of his mouth.

"Professor?"

"Yes Oxford?" Stein asked.

"Don't you mean sorcerers with our dragon partners?"

"No, you will have to work together in teams later on. Or did you want to fight whole armies with only one other person at your side?" Stein questioned.

"I could fight whole armies on my own," Blackstar said, but he sounded distracted.

Soul looked over at him, wondering if Blackstar was alright. Maka caught him looking and said in a low tone, "He always gets distracted during lessons, he's fine."

"Today we're going to set up our campsites. Each pair of you is going to do it separately, as a team. Anyone who helps another team will lose marks. This is strictly to be done by the sorcerer and dragon partners together. Am I clear?" Stein asked.

There was a chorus of agreements and a bit of grumbling.

"If you would like to help each other out after I say each task set is complete, you are welcome to. Meals are to be done in pairs, sleeping happens with two people in one tent. If I catch anyone having sex I will not be pleased. Save that for back at your apartments unless you want to be terribly embarrassed in front of your professor and classmates. And I will make sure it is horrifyingly embarrassing for everyone involved," Stein told them, rolling the gear on his head.

Seeing him turn that gear made Soul shiver. It was just creepy. The clicking sound it made didn't help.

"Since it's the first day, I'll have a meal ready for all of you for your supper. The first thing you need to do is choose your campsites. I'll be here if you need guidance but you should be able to do this on your own. Make sure you're far enough away from the rest of your classmates that you will have space for your tent and your own fire without risking forest fires or fires of any other sorts. Go at it," Stein told them, gesturing lazily with one hand, then reaching back to turn the gear again.

Forcing his eyes away from the weird professor, Soul turned to Maka.

"Do you know how to pick a campsite?" he asked her.

"Yes, we've done it a few times. Don't you Soul?" she asked in return.

"Yes, I've done it quite often, actually. My tutors were pretty thorough when it came to being self-reliant," he answered.

"Why don't you choose where to set up then Soul?" Maka asked, smiling at him.

Nodding, Soul transformed into his dragon form in a flash of white and carefully picked up his bag in his claws.

"Why did you shape shift?" questioned Maka before he could move.

"I can smell water better this way. We'll be here a while and since we didn't bring enough water for every day, being near a stream or something would be convenient," he replied.

"I can carry the backpack if you'd like Soul," she offered.

"I've got it, it isn't as heavy this way. Besides, it wouldn't be cool to make you carry it," Soul told her, then he walked within the treeline and sniffed the air.

Scenting the dampness of water, Soul followed it to a small stream. "We shouldn't set up too close to it or it'll make the tent wet," he said, looking for a good place.

"Over there." Soul's eyes followed her pointing finger.

"Excellent!" He went and set his pack down, then shape shifted back into a human.

He and Maka worked through making a tent smoothly and easily. The task was simple enough, though a few of the other partnerships were having problems. Maka suggested they find where Stein had the food set up early and Soul agreed.

"Any idea why we're camping?" Soul asked Maka while they walked, observing others setting up their campsites.

"I don't know, but I'm sure we'll find out," she replied.

"Soul! Come to join us for food?" Blackstar called, and they headed over to where he and Tsubaki were seated at a picnic table. There were enough of them set up under a large free standing roof for the entire class to sit under.

The meal passed with little incident. Lots of bragging on Blackstar's part and a bit of quiet conversation between Maka and Tsubaki. Still, a few of the partnerships seemed tense.

"I heard this field trip is actually a test," Soul overheard one of the students saying. He looked over to see that student from before... Oxford.

Oxford had a bald head with two points of hair sticking up on either side of his head like extensions from his glasses.

"Yeah?" Soul said loudly to catch Ox's attention. "How is it a test?"

Ox looked over, adjusted his glasses, then explained, "Well, they say a lot of partners go on this trip and return no longer partners, or even friends anymore. Something happens to them."

* * *

((Stay tuned for the next chapter! I love reviews, follows and favorites! The attention from you all keeps me writing this! I have so many plans X3 Help me keep writing by keeping up the positive feedback!))


	12. Fighting and Bonding

((I am back and already have my next chapter planned out. Here's a chapter that's as good as two XP))

* * *

Kid froze, then slowly turned his head for a better view of the man who had spoken. He looked ordinary enough in the dim lighting. His face had a few day's worth of brown beard growth on it, his eyes were brown, as was his hair. The clothes he was wearing were black and form fitting, his skin was a very dark shade as well. What truly set him apart though, was the wrist bands that looked like they were compact computers. On his head he had night vision goggles and in his hand was a gun, that was pointed directly at Kid's head.

"I said, who are you? You better answer or your pet dragons will be seeing your brains," he threatened, but his voice was unsteady.

_He's nervous_, Kid thought, _that makes him instinctual and more likely to blow my head off_.

"Does it matter who I am?" Kid asked, trying to come up with the best way out of this. "We're both not supposed to be here."

"I'm the one with the gun pointed at your head. Who are you?" the man demanded.

Summoning a spell, Kid answered, "A sorcerer." Then he said a single word and shot the spell to Patti, hoping she was prepared to handle it.

Luckily, she managed it with ease, shooting spell out with a soft yellow light.

The gun fired, the bullet ricocheted off the newly summoned shield and the man shouted in alarm. Yellow disappeared after the bullet impacted, winking out of existence.

"Rolling," Kid warned his partners as he took a dive for the cover of a nearby crate. They clung to his shoulders as he made it to cover. The sound of booted feet made Kid want to swear, the man's back-up was coming.

"I didn't want to have a gun fight," Kid muttered.

"I told you shooting at them was loud big sis," Patti said.

"Liz, I need to link with you too," Kid told her before she could respond to Patti.

Her energy reached out to his and Kid eased into the cycling pattern with both sisters.

"What happened? Why are you bleeding?" Kid heard a new voice demand.

Before the first man could answer Kid leaped out from behind the crate and shot his spell. "Death Ice," he said, and a freezing beam shot from his palms at one of the two new people. Liz and Patti both shot as well and the extremists did their best to dodge.

Kid's ice caught one man's arm and froze it. Patti hit one person but there was the metallic sound of the shot bouncing off metal so Kid wasn't sure it had done any damage. They returned fire as they found things to hide behind, forcing Kid to move or risk himself and his partners getting injured.

_They all took different locations to hide and they're unlikely to all come at me at once. This is going to take far too much time, and one is missing. I have to be careful not to damage the building as well._ The entire situation was stacked against him. _I should have ignored father's request to keep the whole thing quiet and brought backup._

With that final thought Kid stood up from behind his current cover and used his soul perception to spot someone who was doing the same. He fired ice at them while Liz and Patti looked for other targets.

Liz fired and a bullet skimmed Kid's skin, leaving a small hole in his jacket and causing pain to shoot up his arm. Ducking down he took a deep breath and summoned a different spell than before. It was more complicated but should defend them from fire long enough that they could actually take the other people out.

"Someone's coming up on our right," Liz informed him, then shot at the person.

Kid nodded and leaned his head back, trying to finish the spell quickly. "Liz, Patti," he said simply.

"Right," they said together.

"Soul Resonance," the three of them said together.

Kid released the spell with the words, "Death Shot Protection."

The three of them were encased in a glowing green aura and Kid swiftly stood.

"Shield at one-hundred percent, stable and holding," Liz informed him as he looked for who she had been shooting at.

Spotting movement, Kid ran towards the man who was hiding close to their position. As he moved he heard a bullet hit the shield.

"Seventy percent and holding," Patti reported solemnly, then giggled as he used the box the man was hiding behind as a vault to get to the other side. Another bullet skimmed the shield as he ducked down.

"Sixty-five percent."

"Shit!" the man yelled, quickly turning his gun to aim at Kid. It was the first man who had shot at him that night, the dark skinned one.

Kid caught him mid-motion with one hand and punched him in the face with the other. Twisting the wrist he had in his grip, Kid disarmed him as the man screamed in pain. A kick to the man's midsection sent him flying away, then Kid took his gun and shoved it in his pocket. Jumping to his feet Kid looked for his next target.

Another bullet whizzed by and Kid spotted the person who had fired it, the one who's arm he had frozen.

"Sixty," Patti informed him.

Dodging behind something to try and keep his shield going, he made his way to the next person as quickly as possible. He was able to come at this one's cover from the side this time and ran in a crouch. This time the person was anticipating his approach.

Instead of shouting in surprise the man threw a punch for Kid's face with a metal plated hand. Blocking, Kid aimed for the man's chest and his hand hit with a dull thump, his knuckles cracking hard against more metal. Wincing in pain, Kid blocked another punch aimed for his side as he scanned the man for weaknesses.

This man's entire head except for his jaw seemed to be made of metal. Two red eyes glowed in the dark and his entire right arm was exposed and gleaming slightly from the dim light within the building from a lamp placed somewhere. Shadows made it impossible to tell where Kid could land a blow that would do damage.

"I'm not as easy to hurt as my comrade," the man sneered at him, landing a punch to Kid's gut.

"Thirty percent shields," Liz told him in a worried tone as he staggered bit.

Throwing a punch which the cyborg blocked, Kid followed up with another that landed on the cyborg's jaw. Blood sprayed from his mouth as his head snapped back and Kid kicked him hard in the stomach, sending him flying.

A shot was fired and Kid felt it hit.

"Fifteen percent," Patti chimed in and Kid spun to face the man who'd come up behind him.

"Guys! The explosive is going to go, we need to get out of here!" A woman shouted and Kid noticed a light source was now moving.

Quickly calculating in his head, Kid decided the light had been at the center support beam of the warehouse, and the other two men had come from opposite ends of the warehouse, probably from the other two supports.

The man who had fired at him took off for the stairs. Kid barely took note of it.

He was already running for the central support beam.

* * *

That same time in a forest far from Kid's location...

Stein had treated the whole evening like a bonding experience rather than a school assignment, which was very strange. Rather than doing complex spells, memorizing facts or doing physical training he told them to gather wood for a big bonfire. It was fun to spend time with Blackstar, Tsubaki and Soul but Maka was beginning to wonder if there was something she was missing.

All of the students were seated around the campfire which crackled and cast strange light on their faces. The evening sky was filled with stars that you could see through the parting of the trees. Quiet laughter and the sound of conversation filled the air.

"You all might be wondering why we're sitting around the campfire right now," Stein commented and there was a hush as most of the students turned to listen to him. "Syncing with others isn't just about how you work with people on the battlefield, it's about how you get along with them in general. The more you know someone, the easier it is to match wavelengths. Not everyone is compatible of course, even if just on a personality level rather than a Soul Resonance one.

"The people you see seated around you are your comrades. They will be at your back on a battlefield. You will attend classes together, eat meals together, fight together and possibly die together. Knowing them could possibly save your life one day, don't take them for granted. In the days that follow, you'll be building your memories of each other. Some day, this is all you might have of one another.

"Why don't we share some stories? They don't have to be true, tell us something that has meaning for you. Blackstar? Why don't you start?"

"Me? I guess a star like me should start," he said in a rather subdued tone of voice.

Maka looked over at him, sitting next to Soul who was beside her, worried. He normally didn't sound like that. She saw Tsubaki was giving him a similar look.

"There once was group called the Star Clan. This clan was a group of assassins who were notorious for their strength and ability to get a job done. What they were also known for was that they would do anything for a price. They were hunted down by the dragon-sorcerer partners and killed for their crimes. There's were very few survivors. One was spared because he was nothing but a baby. He was taken in by one of the teachers of the academy and raised just like every other kid," Blackstar told them all, staring into the fire.

"Blackstar... was that kid you?" Tsubaki asked quietly.

Blackstar smiled a little and looked at his partner. "Yeah, my parents were Star Clan. It's why I have a star tattooed on my right shoulder."

Maka knew that tattoo, it was the black outline of a five pointed star. He'd had it as long as she could remember. It wasn't a new story to her, he'd told her it before, when they were on a trip to test themselves for spells. They had wandered into a town for lunch and the inhabitants had seen Blackstar's tattoo. The townspeople had yelled and thrown things at them until they'd left. That was when Blackstar had told her about his family. He had wanted her to understand why people were acting that way and perhaps why he hadn't fought back.

It had been hard to understand Blackstar's reaction to it all. Even while Maka had yelled back at them and they'd started hitting Blackstar with things he hadn't really done anything but make light of it. She had expected him to fight back but instead he had reacted with tolerance.

"Tsubaki, why don't you tell us a story?" Blackstar suggested.

"Me? Why don't we let someone else go first?" Tsubaki offered.

"No, I like the idea of you telling a story next Tsubaki, go ahead," Stein encouraged.

"Oh, alright," Tsubaki said and Maka could hear the blush in her words.

Preparing to listen, Maka pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs. She was wearing a baggy coat against the chill in the air and she fixed her eyes on Tsubaki.

"There once was a quiet daughter of a warlord in the distant past who caught the attention of the sun god. She didn't think of herself as very special. She wasn't as pretty as some of her sisters, nor as smart. Some of her sisters had great talents with artistry but not she. She was only good at taking care of the garden, and it was the most beautiful in all the world.

"One day she was out in the gardens, enjoying the sunlight and weeding when she noticed a sparrow had broken its wing. Knowing some medicinal herbs and having great patience she set the little bird's wing and nursed it back to health in the light of the sun. After the bird was all better, she released it so it could fly free again.

"The sun god, who's icon was the sparrow noticed her actions and took interest in the girl. He came down to visit her and ask her why she had done as she had. The girl shyly told him that she couldn't let another creature suffer if there was anything she could do to help.

"Her compassion intrigued the sun god and he offered to grant her one wish for what she had done for the bird. After a moment of thought she asked that he look after her brother, who was away fighting to protect their people from bandits. The sun god agreed to look after her brother, but came back to visit her often.

"The two became close friends as they shared stories, then fell in love but it came at a price. Every day the sun god came to visit, the sun did not shine on the crops that her people needed to survive. They withered and died in the soil that once nourished them. Seeing this problem, the daughter asked that he stay in the sky to look after her people first, because their lives were more important than their love.

"Being without her love drained the warlord's daughter of energy. Her love had lifted her spirits higher than they had ever been. She soon became a shadow of herself. Seeing his love's suffering, the sun god returned to Earth. At first the warlord's daughter greeted him with great joy, then she pleaded with him to return to the sky.

"He said he would, but he wanted her to join him. If she did she'd never be able to return to the mortal plane, for time in the sky ran differently than time below and if she came back, she would die. She asked him for three days and three nights to make her decision, because she loved her home and her family.

"For three days and three nights the warlord's daughter debated, going over what her life was on Earth without him and knowing her life in the sky would be very different.

"When the sun rose on the fourth day, she had made her decision. She said goodbye to all those she loved and left for the sky realm with her love. It is said she planted the lights that are the stars in the night sky, and she takes care of them like she took care of her flowers on Earth, always helping her love to spread compassion in our world and never to return," Tsubaki finished.

"A very beautiful story Tsubaki," Stein told her.

"I liked it too," Maka told her with a smile.

"Thank you," Tsubaki smiled back, ducking her head shyly.

Another student volunteered to tell a story and a few more after before Stein told them they should head to their tents to sleep.

"We'll have a busy day tomorrow, you won't want to be too tired," Stein informed them. "Everyone who hasn't told a story yet should try to think something since I would like you all to share at least one. I'll be keeping track of who hasn't said anything yet so don't try to get out of it. Remember, it doesn't have to be long, just meaningful to you."

Soul and Maka made their way back to their campsite, Maka summoned a light orb to brighten their path so they wouldn't trip. The glowing blue orb hovered between them at shoulder height.

"Hey, Maka, do you think this field trip will change something about us?" Soul asked her, she could tell he was trying to sound cool about it but she could sense his concern. "Ox seemed to think it was some kind of test but all we seem to be doing is bonding and telling stories."

Looking up at the stars Maka answered, "I don't know. So far things seem simple enough, but I just get the feeling there's more to it than that. Stein did say we'd be busy tomorrow, maybe the test will begin then."

Little did they know the test had begun as soon as the set foot on the trail to their campsite.


	13. Testing?

Soul woke to the sound of bird song in the morning. The tent was bright from the sunlight outside, which was heating it up. Stretching, Soul folded his arms behind his head and looked over at Maka. All he could see of her within her sleeping bag was her hair.

He truly enjoyed spending time with this girl. Whatever test came, they would face it together and he was confident they could handle it. Now he faced another problem.

What story was he going to tell?

All the stories he had heard last night had meant something. Long or short, they had meaning for each person. The only stories he could think of paled in comparison. His mind didn't seem to want to come up with anything but children's stories and telling one of those wouldn't be cool at all. He figured Maka had already chosen a story, it seemed like something she would be good at.

_This is the first thing everyone will hear from me, I better make it cool_, Soul thought to himself.

Maka made a small sound and moved. She then sat up, rubbing her eyes.

"What time is it?" she mumbled.

"I don't know, I haven't checked," he answered. "Don't we have to make breakfast today?"

"Yes," replied Maka with a yawn, then she stretched and wiggled out of her sleeping bag. "You're helping with it?" she asked as she started to roll up her blankets.

"I burn things," warned Soul, sitting up and running a hand through his hair.

"You can help then," Maka replied, then turned and pulled clothes out of her backpack. "Mind if I change first?"

"No, go ahead, I'll step out of the tent." Soul grinned at her, then pulled himself out of his sleeping bag and crawled over to the zipper of the tent. He opened it and got out, then closed it behind himself. Hopping from one foot to the other from the cold ground he spotted his shoes and quickly slipped his feet in them.

Things were always so cold in the mornings.

"Everyone needs to get up and eat now or they won't have any time for it before our day starts," Stein called, walking from campsite to campsite.

"And if we don't get ready now?" Soul asked the teacher.

"Then you won't have time for breakfast," Stein answered simply, strolling past Soul. "I'm not your babysitter, just your instructor."

The tent opened with a zip. Maka slipped her shoes on before standing, which Soul wished he had thought of when he had left the tent.

"He's not your usual teacher," commented Soul, watching Stein walk away.

"None of our teachers are normal in the joint school," Maka replied.

"Didn't Stein teach your class for a while?"

"Yes, but he was covering for Sid because he died. Now that Sid is undead I guess he'll be taking over his old classes while Stein works with us," Maka told him.

"I'd ask but I want to change," Soul replied, ducking into the tent and shucking off his shoes.

With both of them to work on it, breakfast went pretty quickly. Soul got the food ready while Maka lit the fire and prepared it for cooking. They had hash browns and bacon for breakfast.

"SOOOUL! Maka!" Blackstar practically tackled him to hug him.

Laughing, Soul replied, "Good morning Blackstar." He returned the hug.

"Hey Blackstar," Maka greeted.

"Done eating yet?" Blackstar questioned, then sniffed the air and looked at their dishes. "It sure smells like it."

"Hi Tsubaki," Maka said.

"Hi."

"We just finished Blackstar. Do you know when we have to meet Stein?" asked Maka.

Tsubaki answered, "He said we had an hour to get ready. We had some time so Blackstar suggested we come find you."

"Yeah! I wanted to see my friends before the big test. Know what it is Maka?" Blackstar asked her.

Blushing Maka murmured, "No, I don't."

"That must bug you, you always know what's on the test. She studies like nuts!" explained Blackstar.

"There's nothing wrong with studying," Tsubaki stated.

"No, but it's boring," Soul added.

"It sure is!"

They chatted, then headed to meet Stein by the picnic tables. There was a lot of grumbling going on as they waited for their "test" to begin.

"I'm sure you're all wondering what your task for the day is going to be," Stein said, adjusting his glasses. "Follow me."

He led the way to a clearing that was filled with sunlight and had piles of logs set up around chopping blocks. The blocks were various heights and each had their own axe beside them.

Soul looked to Stein expectantly.

"You'll be chopping wood until lunch," instructed Stein.

Students all stared at him, waiting for a punch line to a bad joke.

_He can't be serious...?_

"Well, what are you waiting for? It's not going to get done if you stare at it. Make sure you're standing by your partners. I'll bring water for a break in an hour." Stein checked his watch then put his hands in his pockets.

Without a word Blackstar headed out into the clearing, the sunlight shining off his hair. He looked over his shoulder.

"You guys coming? If I'm going to do something boring I want my friends and my partner with me," he told them.

"Right," Maka answered as she and Tsubaki followed him.

Soul was a bit more hesitant. "Fine, but I want to use some for our fire later."

"That's what the plan is," Stein answered as Soul strolled after his friends.

"Professor, is it really necessary we do it all morning?" he heard Oxford ask.

"Yes," Stein said. "If you don't do it you won't pass this assignment."

"What happens if you don't pass the assignment Mr. Stein?" a female voice asked.

Soul picked up an axe and tested it's weight, half listening to the conversation behind him. He looked at his three new friends who had chosen chopping blocks in a small circle. Maka was testing her axe and Blackstar was putting a log on his chopping block while Tsubaki weighed her axe with her hands.

"Then you don't get in the joint school with your partner," Stein replied. "You can try again with the same partner or a different one next year. Most people don't try again together though. You can call me Stein, Kim, no need for the formality."

Crack! Blackstar had chopped his first log.

The morning passed by slowly, there was a bit of conversation between the four friends but it was mostly small talk.

Maka and Blackstar had grown up together and had always been friends. Tsubaki had a brother and a mother and father. Maka didn't have any siblings and none of them had any pets.

"What about you Soul? What was it like growing up as an Evans?" Blackstar asked.

Soul's axe landed wrong and got stuck in the log. Swearing a bit, he pulled the log off the chopping block and set it on the ground. Planting his heel on the wood he tried to pry it out, careful not to hurt himself with the axe.

"What was it like not growing up as an Evans? I have nothing to compare it to," answered Soul, feeling abnormally sensitive and uncool.

"He has a point," Maka put in. He looked over to see her wiping sweat from her forehead. The sun was making the work very warm.

"Time for a bit of a break. I have water here for you all, come get it," Stein called.

Dropping his axe, which was still stuck in the log, Soul went to the teacher.

There was a bit of a line for it, but he got a drink for himself and Maka. Tsubaki and Blackstar had grabbed theirs together but Maka had been slower getting into line.

"Thanks, Soul," she said with a smile.

"You're welcome." He took another long swallow of water. It was ice cold and felt very good going down.

"WELL THAT'S JUST STUPID! HOW COULD YOU SAY THAT!" one girl shouted, poking another girl in the chest.

"IT'S NOT STUPID! IT'S TRUE! YOU'RE THE ONE WHO DOESN'T KNOW RIGHT FROM WRONG!" the other one shouted back, shoving her away.

"Girls! I need to speak with the both of you, alone. Come along," Stein told them.

"She started it!" the first one accused.

"I'm not debating this with you here, follow me," Stein's voice was ice cold.

The trio left as everyone watched.

All the students seemed a bit subdued by the outburst, those two had come here as partners. What had happened?

Stein came back and they all went back to chopping wood.

Maka read a lot of books, for fun and studying. Blackstar liked to work out a lot. Tsubaki could take five different shapes of dragons.

The talk became less frequent as they all grew tired. They weren't the only ones talking less. Stein called them all to sit before they ate, saying he had enough firewood for now.

Another set of people started arguing over lunch and Stein took them aside. This time it had been three people, and Stein had took the third person's partner with them.

"The students that started fighting earlier, did any of you see them come back?" Maka asked.

"Hm?" Blackstar looked at her curiously and then looked around.

"I didn't see them," Soul answered.

"Neither did I," Tsubaki said.

"Do you think they left?" Soul questioned.

"I don't know," Maka replied.

"I wonder what happened to them," Tsubaki said quietly.

_I wonder too, it's been hours and they didn't come back with Stein..._


	14. Classmates or Failures?

((I'm sorry for the delay in getting this chapter up. I slipped into depression on Sunday and have been doing my best to recover from it and actually be better. At one point I was even believing this story was so crappy that I should never write any more of it, it was rough. Here's hoping stress and pressure from life and the approaching holiday season don't get me down again. If anything happens and I'm not going to post, I'll put it on my profile from now on.))

((I hope you enjoy the new chapter!))

* * *

After lunch Stein had all of the students help clean up, then had the partners play quick and simple games with each other such as tic tac toe. Tsubaki didn't really mind, it left her plenty of time to talk with Blackstar. For all his bragging she could tell he had a noble heart. She won a few times at the games but a lot of the time she let Blackstar win, it was nice to see him happy about it.

"I'm winning too easily Tsubaki. Since I'm such a great winner," Blackstar said with a grin, "maybe I should teach you to be better so it's more of a challenge."

"With you as my teacher I'd probably always win," Tsubaki replied, smiling sweetly.

Blackstar laughed. "You're-"

"That's IT!" someone shouted, drawing their attention to another partnership. "When are we ACTUALLY going to start training Mr. Stein?" the male student was standing across from his partner, his hands braced on the table and facing away from them.

Tsubaki looked to Stein, who lazily blew smoke from his cigarette into the air. "We're not training on this trip Steven, but you can leave at any point if you'd like. If you do though, you won't get into the joint school this year."

Steven abruptly sat and faced his partner.

"Stein? May we be excused from the games for a moment?" Steven's partner asked.

"Yes, you may, but make sure you come back in two hours at most. You aren't excused from the rest of the day's activities," Stein answered.

Nodding, the girl got up from the table. Her partner stood so fast you'd think his seat was on fire, then stormed off into the forest. The girl hurried after Steven.

"It seems really tense around here," commented Blackstar. They both looked over to Maka and Soul.

"They seem alright," Tsubaki stated.

"Yeah, I would hate to be in this class without Maka," Blackstar added. "Soul's awesome too."

Not sure what to add, Tsubaki made her move in their current game. "Your turn Blackstar."

Blackstar turned and looked at their game, then made the winning move. "Ha ha! Can't beat the great Blackstar can you Tsubaki?"

Smiling, Tsubaki agreed.

While people were playing the games, Tsubaki noticed quite a few of the students went to Stein. Some of them went alone, others with their partners. Some returned to their tables, others left like Steven and his partner, into the forest. It was worrying.

Tsubaki looked at Blackstar, who was laughing at another of his own jokes. She didn't want to lose him as a partner, she needed him.

Stein sent them to make their own suppers, Tsubaki cooked their meal while Blackstar told her about how great he was and worked out. He ate far more than she had thought possible, but she was flattered that he liked her cooking.

When they were finished, Stein had them meet where they had the night before. The sun was only just beginning its decent as the students gathered and started the fire. It was obvious to anyone that looked that there were less people than the first night.

"Tonight is our last night for this field trip. Tomorrow I will speak to each set of partners individually to tell you if you have passed or not. As it's our last night, I'm going to get all of you who haven't told a story yet to share one with us. Let's start with Soul and his partner Maka," Stein said.

Tsubaki looked over at Maka, who was seated next to Blackstar and Soul. Soul was scratching his head, not looking very confident.

"I'll go first," Maka offered.

"There once was a sorceress who travelled the world helping others. She was a warrior and she fought off many of the madness beasts that threatened people daily in her time. When she was born, Lord Death had not banished the Madness God yet and many monsters threatened the world with chaos.

"She became known from village to village for her courage and strength but soon the madness that comes from killing such creatures plagued her." Maka hugged her legs to her chest, staring into the flames. "With madness threatening her sanity, she isolated herself from everyone, even her closest friends. She stopped hunting evil creatures. Her absence was noticed, but no one knew what to do about it.

"A green dragon decided something had to be done, he tracked the sorceress to her cave. She was so far gone into her madness that she didn't recognize him for a friend until after she had attacked him. Shaken by her actions, she screamed at him to leave. The dragon refused and told her there was a spell to free her from the darkness that plagued her.

"The first time she barely managed to cast it at all, but slowly they were able to cleanse her mind and bring her back to sanity. It took weeks before she was strong enough to leave her isolation. The dragon never left her side after that, swearing to be her partner and help her stay sane. They became the first dragon-sorcerer partners, and they were also the first to ever accomplish opening death-spells in a dragon," Maka finished.

There was a silence then Stein said, "Many people forget our beginning, it's good that you remember."

Maka smiled at the professor. "I looked it up when I decided to become part of the joint school."

"Very good. Do you have a story for us Soul?"

"Yeah, I do," Soul responded, looking down at his hands.

"I'm sure everyone here knows that humans fear dragons and sorcerers. You probably didn't know that humans were here first." Raising his head, Soul looked around at the students around the fire. "Sorcerers and dragons came from portals that were opened all over the planet. When we first came through, the humans helped us out. We were weak and defenceless, our magic didn't work here. Our powers started coming back and they began to fear us. We never gained the full strength we had on our home world, but we were still strong.

"The human forced us in isolation and sorcerers and dragons struggled to survive on this foreign place. More creatures followed us, and they were far more deadly. The humans were no match for them, and finally they turned to us for help. Working together, we banished the mad god into the abyss and killed the rest.

"Even after working together, the humans were uneasy, so they developed the technologies they now use, to try and put us on an even footing.

"There is hope though. When I was a child, my favourite human story was 'The Boy and the Dragon.' It was a story about a young boy who finds himself lost in the forest. Unable to find his way back, he comes across a yellow dragon woman who comforts him and helps him find his way home.

"We are from different worlds but we look the same. It'd be cool if we could all just get along," Soul said, running his hand through his hair.

"It only makes sense that a star like me came from another world," Blackstar added with a grin.

"Yes, it does," answered Tsubaki, smiling at him.

The stories lasted far into the night before Stein said they were finished and told them they could go to bed.

"You didn't tell us a story though," Maka said to him.

"I suppose I haven't," Stein said, rolling the gear by his eye. "Would you like to hear one from me?"

Numerous students agreed though a few asked if they could go sleep.

"You can go to bed if you'd like, or stay and listen," Stein replied. Most of the students stayed.

"Shortly after I graduated from the school that you are looking to attend, I was put on an assignment with my partner, Blue Spirit," Stein started.

"My father?" Maka asked.

"Yes actually," Stein replied. "We were told to infiltrate an extremist group of sorcerers and weapons that had been terrorizing humans. It went horribly wrong directly after we started. They knew we were coming and we were ambushed before we could arrive. Spirit and I almost escaped together but we were separated and I was captured. What we didn't know was that this group of sorcerers were actually working together with humans. They decided to try and figure out the living anatomy of a sorcerer with my body. By the time our people found me I had been there for two weeks and I was weak from blood loss and wounds. It wasn't just the humans who had hurt me, it was our own people.

"Don't think we're better than humans, we're alike in many ways. We all fear what we don't understand," Stein concluded. "Now off to bed, there's much to be done tomorrow."

* * *

Everyone woke early the next day, anxious for what was to come. Tsubaki went overboard cooking, but she was nervous. She knew that Blackstar was the perfect partner for her. She also knew she needed him in order to beat the Enchanted Dragon, her brother.

Even with the large amount of food she'd prepared, Blackstar managed to finish all of it. It was amazing just how much food he could consume.

The two of them went to sit with Maka and Soul at the picnic tables. Tension kept most people quiet, but Soul and Blackstar were soon arm wrestling and talking loudly.

"Do you think you and Blackstar will pass Tsubaki?" Maka asked her.

"I hope so, I really like being Blackstar's partner. What about you Maka? Do you think you and Soul will pass?" she asked. The boys had gone from arm wrestling to wrestling by the table, shouting and laughing as Blackstar pinned Soul down. Tsubaki watched in concern, but Maka didn't seem too worried so she kept herself seated. "Be careful Blackstar!" she called.

"You worry too much Tsubaki, I'm fine!" Blackstar answered.

"I meant don't hurt Soul," she replied.

"Oh, well, someone as mighty as me would never let his friend get hurt!"

Shaking her head, Maka answered Tsubaki's question, "I think we'll do fine, but I'm nervous about it too."

Stein returned to get the next partners. "Blackstar, Tsubaki, come with me."

"Yes Stein," Blackstar replied, releasing Soul from a headlock and making Soul fall to the ground.

"You could have given me a little warning," Soul all but yelled, jumping to his feet. Then he clasped Blackstar's hand. "Good luck." He grinned.

"You too, Soul," Blackstar replied, releasing his hand and stepping away. "And you Maka! Even a star like me likes his friends around."

"Thanks, Blackstar," Maka answered, then turned to Tsubaki. "I'm sure you did fine."

Nodding, Tsbaki said goodbye, then followed Stein and Blackstar.

Stein led them into a small one room cabin. "Have a seat," he said, gesturing to a table set with three chairs. There were other chairs in the room, along with a stove and some cupboards. There was a bed against one wall and a bedside table with a lamp on it. Everything but the lamp was made out of a dark wood, with a single window the only thing to brighten it up.

As Stein closed the door Tsubaki and Blackstar took their seats.

"This assignment was to test the bond you have as a partners. Many people can match wavelengths and aren't compatible beyond that. If your personalities didn't match there would be no way for you to complete the courses of the joint school. Having the wrong partner could cause accidents and even death on some of the assignments sorcerer-dragon partners are given," Stein told them, standing casually with his hands in his lab coat pockets.

"The two of you are well matched. You can move in to your shared apartment after we return. The only advice I can think to give you is to share more of yourselves. Friendship is a key part of opening death-spells in a dragon. Good luck." And with that he opened the door to the cabin.

"So we passed?" Blackstar asked.

"Yes."

"YAHOO! I KNEW IT! Tsubaki, I'll be the first person in our class to make you able to use death-spells! We'll be AMAZING!" Blackstar crowed.

"You need to take down your tent and pack up before returning to the clearing you originally came to. We'll be meeting as a class before heading back to Death City," Stein informed them.

"Come on Tsubaki!" Blackstar grabbed her arm and dragged her away as she called a quick goodbye to Stein.

Cleaning up their campsite took quite some time, but soon they were packed up and headed to the clearing. There were already a few students there waiting for them.

"You passed too?" a pink haired girl with green eyes asked them. She wore black pants and a white sweater even though it was pretty warm outside. Her hands were also covered in thin gloves. A girl with black hair and dark brown eyes in a green and white school outfit stood beside her.

"YOU DOUBTED THE GREAT BLACKSTAR?"

There was a pause and then the girl answered, "Since I don't know you? Yes."

"I'm no mere mortal like you! This test was easy! I wasn't even trying and I passed it! Hahaha!" Blackstar told her.

Embarrassed, Tsubaki blushed and looked at the ground.

"Blackstar!" a girl ran and hugged Blackstar, making him stumble a little. When she looked up Tsubaki recognized the blonde haired, blue eyed Thomson sister Patti. "Have you seen any birdies?"

Hugging her back, Blackstar answered, "Yes, there are a lot of them in the forest."

"OOOO, WHERE?"

As Blackstar started to point them out, Tsubaki spotted Liz and Kid coming up the path and went to greet them.

"Hi Kid. Hi Liz," she said.

"Hello, Tsubaki," Kid replied while Liz waved tiredly.

That's when she noticed Kid had scrapes on his face. "Are you alright?" she questioned worriedly.

"Yeah, he just decided that the best way to stop a bomb was with his face," Liz put in dryly.

"I didn't try to stop it with my face Liz," Kid corrected, scratching his cheek with a finger. "I was using the last of my shield to stop the last of the explosion while you and Patti dealt with the other one."

"You could have gotten killed!" Liz exclaimed.

"It was a calculated risk and I knew the odds were in my favour," Kid replied. "Besides, I heal quickly, being a demigod."

"It was only a building..."

"As I've explained before, that building contained multiple magical items that likely would have exploded as well. Had we not stopped that entire district could have been consumed by magical fire," Kid answered, looking almost bored. "It would have been a danger to the residences that were nearby."

"Whatever," Liz replied, lifting up her foot and examining her shoe. "This trail was killer for my footwear. We should have flown!"

"It was part of the assignment to walk," Kid answered.

"Are you going to be staying here a few nights like we did?" Tsubaki asked, deciding it was best not to question them about what building they had saved.

"No, the professors at the joint school already know we have a high level of compatibility. We came to meet our new classmates," explained Kid while Liz started obsessively cleaning her boots.

"I'm glad you're here," Tsubaki said with a smile.

"Where are Maka and Soul?" Kid asked.

"I'm not sure, we haven't seen them yet," replied Tsubaki.

Kid nodded and scanned the tree-line. "Isn't that them?" he asked pointing.

Turning, Tsubaki peered into the forest. A white dragon and his companion stepped into the sunlight and Tsubaki smiled.

"Yes, that's them."

* * *

A computer recorded video and audio of the clearing where the confirmed students met their classmates. Not only the teachers were watching this new generation, it was important to study your enemies.


	15. School Enemies?

((I edited Blackstar's actions a bit. I felt he was acting OOC, hope this is better!))

* * *

Maka sat eagerly waiting for their first real class to begin at the joint school. Her hands were folded neatly on the table in front of her, and she was wearing her usual school outfit, a yellow sweater vest over a white dress shirt with a white and green striped tie and her red and black plaid skirt.

Soul, on the other hand, looked quite bored. He was slouched back in his chair with his legs on the desk and his arms folded on his chest. His leather jacket had yellow sleeves and a yellow collar, but had a black center with a dark yellow soul shape over his heart. A plain grey headband spanned his forehead, covering his eyes a bit. Dark red pants and yellow and black shoes completed his outfit.

"Why did we have to get here this early? We're the only ones here," Soul stated.

"We aren't the only ones here," replied Maka.

"Oxford doesn't count," Soul muttered.

Maka looked at the student sitting in front of her with his partner. She recalled that Oxford's partner's name was Harvar.

"Why wouldn't he count?" Maka murmured.

Moving his headband up a bit, Soul peered over at Maka with one eye, then replied, "He's an egghead like you."

Maka froze. She slowly turned towards Soul. "You say that like it's a bad thing." Her tone was scathing and her eyes were filled with offended anger.

Jumping up out of his slumped position Soul held up his hands in surrender. "I didn't mean it that way. I just meant that you people aren't normal and-"

"Maka-chop!" Her book met his head with a thud.

"Ouch! That hurt!" Soul craddled his skull with his hand.

"So do insults," answered Maka, putting her book down.

"I wasn't trying to insult you though," Soul complained.

"I know, that's why you aren't on the floor."

Grumbling, Soul leaned back in his chair and folded his arms over his chest again.

She looked around the room. The classroom was set up like an auditorium, with many places for students all on an incline so that they could see what was going on where the "stage" was at the front. A green chalk board took up the wall behind the floor, and a desk sat at the center of it. Each row for the students to sit at had a bench going along it and long counter that served as a desk. The entire room was curved for the best sound.

Maka began to read the book she had used as a weapon to pass the time. It was a history on the Death Sorcerer Dragon Academy, or DSDA for short. She always found this kind of thing interesting; facts, learning, reading.

When she glanced up again the classroom was mostly full. _I don't know why Soul complained, it hasn't been that long of a wait._

Kid, Liz and Patti strolled into class together. They stopped just inside and Liz stepped up to Kid's side as they scanned the classroom.

Standing, Maka leaned onto the desk and waved to them. "Over here!" she called.

Kid spotted her and waved back. His partners followed him up the stairs.

"Shall we sit together?" Kid asked.

"Be my guest, but beware Maka's books, they're deadly," Soul warned as the trio moved into their row.

"I'm not certain how Maka's reading material would be any more deadly than any other. Do you enchant it Maka?" Kid asked.

Inwardly fuming, Maka snapped her book shut. "No. It's just a book."

"Did I say something wrong?" enquired Kid.

"She's just touchy this morning. I've already been Maka-chopped and the day's barely begun," Soul answered.

"IS SHE ON HER PERIOD?" Patti asked far too loudly, and Maka flushed bright red.

"N-no."

"PATTI! YOU DON'T ASK THOSE THINGS OF PEOPLE," Liz said in a scandalized tone of voice, covering her sister's mouth.

Patti fought against Liz's hold on her head and mouth while Liz apologized to Maka, Soul just sat there and smirked.

_Jerk_.

Tsubaki and Blackstar came in as Patti pulled free.

"I just wanted to know why Maka was grumpy big sis! What's wrong with that?"

"I believe it was how you asked Patti," Kid answered for Liz. "It isn't polite to ask about a girl's time of the month like that."

"Oh," Patti answered, looking contrite. "I'm sorry I asked about your cranky-time like that Maka-chan," she apologized.

Feeling far more awkward than she thought possible Maka waved it away, "It's alright Patti."

"Yo!" Blackstar said as he settled in on Maka's other side, his hands behind his head. "Did we miss something?"

Leaning over Soul and Maka, Patti whispered to Blackstar loudly, "Maka is cranky because it's 'that time of the month.'"

Paling a bit, Blackstar's eye twitched slightly and Maka wondered if he was holding back a wince.

_Didn't I hit him with a book on my last period?_ she wondered, feeling embarrassed._ I know he deserved it_.

"PATTI!" Liz exclaimed.

"WHAT? I WAS EXPLAINING TO BLACKSTAR!"

"Haha, it's just like any other time of the month, I don't see why you guys are talking about it," Blackstar said, his voice vaguely uneasy. He edged away from her a little, attempting to look casual.

"I'M NOT THAT BAD ON MY PERIOD!" Maka shouted.

Everyone in the classroom went quiet at her outburst and she wanted to sink into the floor.

Maka let her head fall against the desk, with her arms as a pillow, and held back a groan.

_Why did I want to come here early...?_

Hearing the sound of wheels rushing down the hallway, Maka looked up in time to see Stein's patched up rolling chair hit the door jab. Stein's chair fell over with a resounding crash that made all of the dragons in the class jump (the sorcerers were used to it).

He spun comically on his back and wound up near the front of the floor. Opening a text book as if it was normal to be lying on his back on the ground while still sitting in a chair (it was for him), Stein said, "Today we will begin with dissecting bats."

* * *

The next day...

A large group of scientist sat at a table on the human side of the border. Medusa idly played with a pen as she watched the head CEO of the company speak.

Chrona stood just behind Medusa's seat. Chrona's eyes had oval pupils currently, with irises a reflective red that signalled that Ragnarok was actively present; that and the obviously pointed ears. Gender neutral loose black pants encased Chrona's legs, while an equally neutral black coat encased Chrona's upper body. Unevenly cut purple hair framed Chrona's face.

In a sharp contrast, Chrona's mother wore a white lab coat and had bright golden hair.

Looking around nervously, Chrona's eyes landed on the android standing behind the seat of a small child who sat in solemn concentration while the CEO talked about the projects going on in the company. The android watched its charge and scanned the room protectively. Its hair was silver like metal. The eyes were a blue that seemed to glow where the iris should be, though its skin was flawless and human-looking. It wore dress shirt and grey pants.

Chrona didn't know how to deal with it, or the people in the room.

Fidgeting Chrona looked at the back of Medusa's head. It wouldn't do to speak up at a time like this, or Chrona would be punished for it later. Even Ragnarok knew better than to act out during one of these meetings.

It finally came to an end and Chrona let out a sigh of relief as people started filing out. Medusa took her time collecting her things before standing.

"Chrona, Ragnarok, let's go," she told them.

"R-right," Chrona said, trying to hold back nervousness. _I need to get stronger, then I won't be afraid_.

Strolling away, Medusa's heels clicked with every step down the stark white hallway. It was sterile and cold, just like home.

When they reached a particularly deserted hallway an arm swung out to block Medusa's path.

"Huh? We're being stopped! How am I supposed to deal with this!?" Chrona whined. One of Chrona's arms moved involuntarily and fingers pulled at Chrona's lip. "ARRRRRGH!"

Chrona's lips were released as a distinctly male voice came from Chrona's mouth, "SHUT UP! Quit your whining or I'll cut your hair again!"

"Eurka Rana? Was there something that you needed?" Medusa questioned politely.

"I really don't like you," Eurka stated.

"Oh? I'm not the only one to have brought a non-human along to the company meeting. Or did you miss the artificial intelligence that the young one brought along?" asked Medusa.

Sighing, Eurka dropped her arm. "The meetings are getting impure, but that's not why I stopped you. I saw you sneaking into the head CEO's office. You stole something didn't you? And what good is it to sneak your way into the DSDA?" demanded Eurka. Her long green hair framed her face, and her unusually green eyes suggested modification. Her lab coat fitted snugly over a short black dress with tall leather boots.

Her short pink haired companion hummed in agreement, looking at them from slim eyes. She had whiskers sprouting around her nose, a definite add-on scientifically. It was hard to tell if she was wearing anything but shoes under her lab coat, since it reached the ground.

"My research will continue as it is at the DSDA. Didn't you hear the head of the company? Chrona, we're leaving," Medusa announced, obviously dismissing the duo.

"Yes Ma'am!"

The arm snapped out in front of Medusa again, and she looked at with a frown.

Before Chrona could whine again Ragnarok made one of Chrona's fists stuff itself in their mouth. It made Chrona's eyes water in discomfort.

"The head of the company has become blind with her replacement cybernetic eyes. If they catch you at the DSDA it'll start a political war that will spark a physical one. Do you really think the planet could survive if the magical and technological fought on a global scale? It's suicide," Eurka stated. "More than that, to try and create a creature that is both magical and technological? It's an abonmin-"

In a blur of motion Medusa spun and grabbed both Eurka's and her companion's lips.

"Eurka Rana and Mizune Mouse, little pests," Medusa said, her tone icy. "I will have to punish you both." Then she smiled a chilling smile and Chrona shivered.

"I'm a busy woman," she stated, releasing them both and they staggered back. "The school nurse mustn't be late now. May science clear your vision to the truth," she said as she turned and waved. Her heels clicked once again down the hall and Chrona followed obediently behind.

"Terrible snake!" Chrona heard Eurka mutter in distress as they turned the corner.

Chrona wondered what it was that Mistress Medusa had planned for them, she never backed down from a challenge.

* * *

((Thoughts? Do you like what I've done with the characters/plot/setting? Ideas of what should happen? Do you like the new cover picture? How am I doing? I'd love some feed back ^.^))


	16. Training and Death?

((**hums Christmas music and makes presents** Wait... what day is it again? I NEED TO POST A NEW CHAPTER.))

((Sorry for the delay, I am far too busy lately X3))

* * *

Soul hurled them over another obstacle as Maka clung to his back, sweat dripping down her back uncomfortably. Her hair blocked her vision as she did her best to try and match Soul's increasingly jerky motions. His body radiated a huge amount of heat and she could feel his sides heaving for breath as he dragged them up the next wall. Shifting her weight, Maka did her best to assist him with his goal without falling off, using the saddle he wore as her grip.

_Only a little further..._

They dropped down to the ground on the other side and Soul stumbled, Maka did her best to not have them fall by carefully balancing her weight.

He took one steadying step, then threw himself forward.

_Yes! We didn't fall this time_.

They made it across the finish line and Soul let his legs collapse beneath him as he gasped for breath. Maka swung herself out of the saddle and braced herself on his shoulder while her legs wobbled.

"How did we do?" she asked, taking a deep breath and wiping off her brow. She looked over at Stein.

"Twenty minutes and forty-two seconds, better than your last run," Stein replied, then put the stop watch in his pocket. "You both still have a lot of practising to do. You'll need to move for the next students to get through," he informed them, turning the gear by his eye with a few clicks.

Nodding, Maka patted Soul's shoulder. With a groan, Soul heaved himself to his feet and shuffled over to where Stein stood off the side of the track. Maka walked with him there, then positioned herself at Stein's side, looking over the obstacle course.

It had the look that suggested that at one point it had been a simple field for running practice, but the general shape and grass was all the two shared in common. The field was strewn with things that needed to be avoided, gone over or under, or to be careful on. There were walls of various heights, logs, rocks of all shapes and sizes, gravel, sand, pavement, cement and even a patch of ice kept there with a spell. It was an unusual display of things that shouldn't really go together, but the point was to make those that were using it be prepared for anything. Everything about it could be changed, and often was with some spells and a bit of work.

Another partnership was already working their way through the obstacle course, and had started when Maka and Soul had reached the midway point on their run. This partnership had a smaller dragon than Soul, so it was the sorcerer doing the climbing and running while the dragon sat wrapped around his shoulders. As Maka watched the sorcerer used a spell to try and launch himself over a wall but ended up getting caught on the top of the ledge at the hips. It almost caused his partner to be launched off.

Stein made a "tsk" sound and motioned for the next pair of students to start their way onto the course.

"Stein? Aren't sorcerer-dragon partnerships supposed to make the people within them stronger? This course seemed easier when I was doing it on my own than with Soul," Maka commented, flushing at having admitted that.

Soul grunted, then shifted back into his human form in a flash of white. He immediately pulled off his shirt and used it to wipe off his forehead. "You didn't make it easier on me either there Maka, you're not the lightest to carry."

Before Maka could shoot back some scathing retort, or Maka-chop him, Stein spoke up.

"That's because your soul wavelengths haven't fully synced yet. You need to go through more together in order to work better. Soul, when your wavelength matches with Maka, she will seem as light as a feather. Maka, you'll be able to match his movements better and be able to cast spells to make his job of carrying and protecting you easier. True partnership comes with an almost telepathic kind of understanding and means different things with each group. None of the students here today have that," instructed Stein.

"What about Kid, Liz and Patti?" Soul asked.

"They aren't here today," answered Stein.

"Where are they professor?"

"On a mission.

* * *

Liz watched the scenery pass by as they flew on Kid's skateboard. She and Patti were both in their dragon forms as they passed over a big lake on the way to their mission.

They had been assigned to eradicate the madness that was terrorizing a village not too far from Death City. There were suspicions of a human having been converted by the madness into one of the dark creatures that preyed on others.

_I hope it doesn't look as horrible as some of the others we've come across_, Liz thought with a small shudder.

"Are you alright Liz?" Kid questioned.

"Yes, I was just thinking about our mission. Do you know how many madness creatures there will be there?" asked Liz, sounding kind of scared.

"I'm not certain. It has to be a nest of them or a human wouldn't have gotten converted," Kid replied.

"Isn't it supposed to be rare when that happens? We've been seeing a lot of madness humans," Liz whined.

"It is supposed to be, but you've heard that the madness has been rising from the abyss again. This is one of the signs of it. We haven't seen this many humans turned into madness creatures in centuries, and they can be some of the most deadly because of their intelligence," Kid informed her.

"Yes," Liz grimly agreed. They weren't easy to fight, and often organized the other madness creatures around them, it was frightening.

The village they landed in was eerily silent. Doors were shut and there wasn't a person to be seen. The trees surrounding the buildings seemed to watch in silence, not even the birds made a sound.

"It's far too quiet," Kid murmured.

"Maybe they're sleeping," Patti whispered loudly.

"I don't think they're asleep Patti," Liz answered softly, shivering slightly.

As they neared the tiny government building, one of its doors opened and a man stepped out. His suit jacket was brown, with tan coloured pants and his feet were in brown shoes that Liz thought were boring. _Old man shoes_. He did look like an old man, with salt and pepper hair and a wrinkled face.

The man hurried over to them. Liz spotted the name tag on his jacket that declared he was the mayor.

"I'm Mr White, the village mayor and you came just in time. The creatures were seen approaching us from that direction." He pointed to the right, then spun and hurried back inside before Kid could say anything.

There was a pause as the door slammed shut, as if Kid was mildly surprised by the rudeness.

"The windows aren't symmetrical," he muttered, then he turned and headed down the street in the right direction.

_Of course he would be taking notice of that_, Liz thought to herself as Patti giggled. They passed a few buildings before they came to the forest.

A high pitched scream made Kid's head snap to that direction and Liz dug in her claws as he jolted into a run.

"That was a woman," Liz barely heard Kid say over the rush of air.

Sure enough, when they turned a corner around a building they found a woman backed up against a wall. She let out another piercing wail of alarm as she scrambled to dodge the beast in front of her. "Don't kill me! Please!"

Liz shot at the creature, causing it to hiss and turn away from its prey. The woman scrambled for escape while it was distracted.

Humanoid in shape, the beast had five perfectly spaced eyes that went from yellow to red at the center with no pupil. It had spiked black hair that was evenly spaced and pointed grey teeth that showed from an evilly grinning mouth. The arms became two black spikes at the elbows and its entire body was a very dark grey. Legs bent oddly at the knee and its feet looked more like paws than anything human.

The creature took a swipe at them and hit Kid in the chest, sending them all flying.

"KID! Why didn't you dodge?" Liz demanded. The beast wasn't moving _that_ fast, there should be no reason-

"Its perfectly symmetrical," Kid said in awe, sitting up to get a better look at it. "Look its hair! Five perfect points on its head!"

It laughed manically and jumped at them, then knocked Kid aside again. They hit a tree with a crash. Patti was laughing as Liz clenched her teeth, clinging to her spell caster and wincing as her tail got crushed this time.

Kid sat up again and continued as if he hadn't been interrupted, "Its eyes too, and its body. It even has the exact same number of toes on each side. Perfectly symmetrical."

"KID! THIS IS NO TIME TO BE COMPLIMENTING OTHERS!" Liz shouted. "WE'RE SUPPOSED TO BE KILLING IT, NOT INVITING IT TO DINER!"

Patti burst into loud laughter as the creature stalked towards them. "KID WANTS TO DATE IT!"

"Patti! I'm far too imperfect for such a creature to even consider to date!"

"WE'RE DISCUSSING DATING WHILE IT TRIES TO KILL US?" Liz yelled.

"Yes!" Kid cried. "It's so PERFECT."

Getting fed up with her sorcerer's reaction, Liz shot at it herself. The creature hissed in protest, but barely even winced.

A hand covered Liz's face.

"No! Don't shoot it! YOU'LL RUIN THE PERFECTION!"

"Kid! I can't see anything and THERE'S A MONSTER TRYING TO KILL US!"

At that moment the creature must have hit them again because Kid went flying and this time Liz didn't go with him. She flew into a bush and landed with a loud snap.

"LIZ!" Patti shouted.


	17. Liz is Injured?

((I changed how Blackstar reacted to Maka "being on her period" in chapter 15, "School Enemies?" I felt like he was acting OOC. He's one of the characters I have the most difficulty writing for ^^; Hopefully I improved it! It didn't really effect much, especially in the long run, but I felt it was important.))  
((Please note that this month is truly hard on my mental health, so I don't know how regularly I will post, besides how busy I've been. I'll do my best to update at least twice a week though!))

* * *

Stunned, Kid's eyes focused on the bush where Liz had landed. Had that snap been her neck?

Patti transformed in a flash of purple and raced into his field of vision, causing his eyes to focus on her. She grabbed a tree branch as she ran and swung it at the beast, which had been approaching where Liz had landed.

The creature giggled insanely before Patti smacked it in the head, then it let out an angry roar.

"Bad monster! Stay away from my sister!" Patti screamed.

Kid jumped to his feet, symmetry forgotten with the peril of his partners. His mind and vision tunnelled to focusing on the beast that had hurt Liz. In seconds he was past Patti, then he leapt into the air and delivered a cross kick to the madness monster's head.

It jerked to the side and almost fell to the ground, the only thing keeping it up was its arm. Patti hit the arm with a resounding smack! The creature went down and Kid smashed it in the chest with his heel. He vaguely heard Patti dropping the branch, but ignored it to focus on his target. It swung at him with one arm as it tried to get up.

A quick spell had a rock smashing into the creature's arm, making it let out an angry scream. Kid delivered another kick to its chest, enforcing it with yet another spell designed to smash solid objects.

There was a splintering sound, and then the beast cracked like a pane of glass, its body fading in shards.

The disappearance caused Kid to stagger. It was like something had rammed itself into his head from behind and a tingling sensation rushed through him. Shaking it off as best he could, he scanned the forest for other threats. Spotting none, his attention turned to Patti, who was sitting beside a bush with her back to him.

Putting a hand to his head, Kid hurried to her side. "Is she alright?" he questioned, his gut sinking as he fully realized his failure.

Patti looked over her shoulder at him, her face more solemn than he had seen it in a long time.

"Big sis broke her wrist. It hurts a lot," Patti replied.

Sinking to his knees at Patti's side, he looked at the small silver dragon in Patti's lap. "Liz?" his voice was unsure. "We can heal that, if we resonate and with a spell."

Liz stirred and looked up at him with her sky blue eyes. Her scales had dirt on them and her front left leg was held out in front of her awkwardly. The fact that her wings were folded tightly to her back was enough to show she wasn't feeling well.

"Please, I hate breaking things," Liz answered, wincing slightly.

Hesitant because he wasn't sure how they would react after he screwed up this badly, he reached for their energy. Their energy flowed through him with ease, Liz's with acceptance and Patti's with determination and more focus than he was used to.

Using their energy, he built up the spell in his mind and poured it into Liz. She sucked in a breath as her limb aligned itself and there was small cracking noises which made Kid wince. It had been broken badly, this spell wouldn't be enough and as healing wasn't his area of expertise...

"We'll have you looked over in Death City Liz. I'll carry you on our way back so you don't stress it," Kid offered.

"It feels a lot better," Liz supplied as the spell faded. Her toes flexed and Kid was flooded with relief. "But it's still very sore."

Nodding, Kid pulled out of the energy sharing, then stood. He was immediately overwhelmed by a shooting pain that started in his skull and blasted down his spine. Gasping, he gripped his head.

_What is this?_

"Kiddo? Are you okay?" Patti's childish tone broke through his pain.

Letting his hands fall down, he pushed the agony away, and it obediently faded. "I'm fine. Let's get home so Liz can be looked after. Beelzebub," Kid said, summoning his skateboard. It slid out of the spelled charm in his pocket and hovered by his feet.

Patti stood and offered her sister to Kid, who took her gently. He was infinitely grateful that neither seemed mad at him. As Patti was about to change shape he touched her arm.

"We- I'm sorry. You're not mad at me?"

"No, silly Kiddo. Why would we be mad at our sorcerer? He kicked the monster's butt!" Patti answered, pumping her arm and smiling.

He looked down at Liz.

"We know your neurotic tendencies," Liz answered dryly, "though next time try and focus on not dying."

Kid nodded. "I'm sorry, I'll endeavour to never endanger your lives again."

A ferocious growl sounded behind him and Kid remembered that there was supposed to be multiple creatures here. Spinning, he found himself facing down the snarling muzzle of a canine creature that might have once been a wolf and its two companions.

They were all black with seven eyes each. Their bodies had spikes that might have once been fur and their claws curled up cruelly from their paws. Tails curved up into a single sharp spike. Their mouths leaked white drool between grey teeth.

"Patti," Kid commanded, cradling Liz close.

"Right!" and with that she transformed and landed on his shoulder as a dragon once more.

_Uneven, uneven, uneven_, his mind chanted, and it was very hard to ignore.

"Patti, move into my arms with your sister," he ordered as he slowly backed away from the monsters, which were inching forward.

Giggling a tiny bit, Patti crawled down beside her sister.

"Liz, Patti," he said quietly, trying not to stir the canines into action.

"Right," they both replied, and linked their energy to his once again.

_There's very little I can do when I'm this tied up. My arms must stay as they are for my partners, and my mobility right now is limited_. He didn't let himself glance at Beelzebub, which he knew would stay fairly close to him, he couldn't take his eyes of his enemies.

Deciding Earth magic was his best bet, he started chanting a spell under his breath, building it with Liz and Patti's help.

One of the creatures lunged at him and he dodged, careful not to squish Patti or Liz and keep his balance. Another one made a grab for his arm and he jumped back, getting out of the way but stumbling on a stone. Giving him no chance to recover, the third one made it's attack, teeth threatening his leg.

Doing a spin, he dodged and took in his surroundings. The final word of his spell fell from his lips and the air hummed with expectation.

Two of the madness beasts tried to cage him in, but he leapt up into the air, getting smacked with a single branch in the back.

"Ready?" he quickly questioned his partners.

"Yes!" they replied in unison.

"Deadly Roots!" Kid called out as he reached the peak of his jump, sending the spell through Liz and Patti.

Twin green beams shot from their mouths and sunk into the ground, and Kid felt the spell push them all back slightly.

For a second, nothing seemed to happen as the creatures below them howled and the three of them started falling again.

Roots suddenly burst from the ground around where the girls had aimed the spell. They squirmed and then latched around the three monsters. Snarling, the beasts tried to fight back. Tthe roots leaked sap where the canines did damage.

Landing with a slight jolt, Kid watched for a moment, then studied the area around them. Using a simple levitation spell, he lifted a stone and dropped it on the one making the most progress to escape. There was a yelp and then it dissolved. Another of them was crushed by the roots with a snap. A final spell for the stone shot it at the last one. The creature vanished with the stone's impact with a popping sound. The roots subsided, their job done. All movement ceased.

That was when the pain hit Kid like an elephant. His mind blanked as his body to froze.

As if from a great distance away, Kid could hear voices calling his name. A thought occurred to him while the pain faded to a memory.

_Isn't perfect symmetry a lack of all things? Nothing, itself, is perfectly symmetrical._

The idea appealed to him, and then a flash of pain brought him back to the present situation.

Patti had sunk her teeth into his thumb.

"Now I'm not symmetrical," muttered Kid.

"DO THE PURIFYING SPELL, NOW!" Liz shouted at him.

Jolting, he realized that she thought the madness had him in its grasp. Did it?

"I-" he realized he didn't want to do the spell. It scared him.

The fear pushed him into action, and he forced out the words of the spell through reluctant lips. Patti and Liz's energy joined with his as the spell grated against his nerves. It itched and burned as he formed it.

After it finished, without his permission, it crept into him. His instinctive response was to fight it. Liz bit his other thumb, distracting him.

Searing pain raced through his blood, like fire, and he bite his lip to keep from making a sound.

When the spell finished he was shaking and sweating.

"We need to get home," Liz reminded him.

Looking for Beelzebub and finding it, Kid sank down to sit on it. "Yes, we do."

* * *

Medusa plugged her personal flash drive into the computer in her personal quarters in Death City. It had been a hassle to retrieve the information it contained. Pity she couldn't use the CEOs codes without breaking into them first.

Her fingers flew across the keyboard as she entered orders into her program. Hopefully she'd be able to make use of it. It should be exactly what she needed.


	18. Magic Vs Tech and-- Man-eating Blair?

Soul sat back in his chair, eyes unfocused as he waited for class to begin. _Maka just has to drag me here early. I could have slept in another ten minutes and still made it here in time_...

Moving his headband down his forehead to cover his eyes, Soul let himself slip into a meditative state, close to sleeping. Breathing out, he pulled his energy in and then focused on its flow through his body.

A shout jolted him out of his concentration and his lifted his headband enough to peer towards the door.

"I won again!" Blackstar crowed as he stretched one arm up, the other crossed behind his head.

"You did, it was impressive," Tsubaki replied, smiling at her partner.

"You shouldn't expect anything else from a star like me," he bragged with a grin, giving her a thumbs up.

Straightening, Soul slid his headband out of the way and stood as Blackstar reached him. They clasped hands as Soul smirked.

"Fighting again Blackstar?"

"Another student challenged my greatness. I never back down when my godliness is questioned," replied Blackstar. He slid into his seat next to Soul as Tsubaki moved to sit on Maka's other side.

It was easy to read the quiet companionship between the four of them.

"Would you like to play Mortal Battle III with me this evening Blackstar? Maka won't play video games with me," Soul explained, heaving a sigh at Maka's uncoolness.

Maka shot him a glare. "I tried playing one with you, but you told me I was a 'noob' who 'sucked' at the 'sacred art of video games.'" She huffed and looked almost ready to hit him with a book again. "I don't see how playing a game on a box is supposed to be 'sacred.'"

Unafraid, Soul grinned at her. "You're right, you did suck. I was trying to spare your dignity by not mentioning it," he teased.

A book smacked into his head and Soul winced from the pain. "Damn it, that hurts." _Probably as much as her dignity_, he thought, holding back a smirk.

Blackstar prodded his shoulder, pulling his attention away from what Maka said in reply. It was probably about him deserving it anyway.

"What's a video game?" questioned Blackstar, looking at him with a face almost blank but with a touch of curiosity.

At first, Soul thought he was joking, so he started to grin. Abruptly he realized his friend wasn't joking at all and he gaped. "You don't know? Man, they're the best."

"What are they?" Blackstar asked again, looking slightly irritated.

"It's a human technology," Maka began, and Soul sat back to let his partner explain. "It uses two separate devices so that you can interact with a world created by moving pictures on a screen and play games."

"That is a very boring explanation," Soul complained. "They're like adventures you can go on without having to leave your house. You can do anything you want and the only consequences are that you may have to restart your game. In Mortal Battle III you fight to defeat you opponents in one-on-one combat in order to save your realm from being invaded by another. It's a fast and fun game."

Grinning, Blackstar answered, "I'd be the best at that game. One-on-one combat is my speciality."

"Want to try it out then?" Soul asked, anticipating sharing his enjoyment of video games with his friend.

"Yeah!"

Kid walked in at his usual sedated pace, Liz and Patti following behind him. Liz's arm was still in a sling from her injury. Soul had been told that she's damaged it too often without it being fixed with a proper spell so the healing process was taking longer. It had been a week and she made a daily visit to the nurse to check how the healing was progressing. The nurse, Miss Zmeya, had recommended they not go on any missions until it was fully healed. She had suggested herbs to speed the healing, and a charm to prevent infection, but no spells.

It struck Soul as odd that a nurse at a sorcerer's school would recommend no spells.

"How's your arm?" Maka asked Liz as the other girl took her seat.

"I still get twinges but it's better," Liz replied.

"Today is the last day of classes before you're going to be sent into the field," Stein announced, drawing the class's full attention to him. He adjusted his glasses as the room fell silent. "Your assignments will be found on the bulletin board on the main floor. The secretary there will record which assignment you choose. You can only choose one assignment per day, any assignment you plan to keep that takes you more than two days you must scry in and say you are continuing it, so that it isn't placed back on the bulletin board for other students to attempt. You may only have one assignment assigned to you until it is finished, only then may you choose another.

"As you are all aware, this part of the school is solely devoted to fighting. There will be assignments that are not for you on that board as well, but they are separated by sections. The only section you will take your assignments from will be the red section, indicating a high level of danger. Be aware, these are higher level assignments than what you would have encountered in either the dragon or sorcerer academies. Good luck," Stein said to them, before turning around and walking to the chalkboard.

"Now, who can tell me where the organ that produces flames is in the Northern Fire Drake?"

* * *

"We're going after a cat?!" Soul exclaimed as he read the assignment Maka had chosen for them.

Letting out a huff of annoyance, Maka cracked her cup down on the counter. "If you had been there to help me choose, you could have picked something out. Instead Tsubaki and I had to choose the assignments ourselves while you and Blackstar played _games_.

"And if you bothered to read all of the paper you'd see it isn't _just_ a cat, we're going after," Maka told him, irritably wiping up the water she had spilled with a cloth. "The creature came through a portal that ended up flattening a building. Luckily, it wasn't occupied and was scheduled for demolition the next day. She's not from this planet and has been known to also take the shape of a woman. She blasted one woman with a projectile that sent her through a wall. It was one of the lower level assignments but it is our first. I don't want to mess it up."

"A woman, huh?" Soul said in a disinterested voice. "Couldn't you have chosen something cooler?"

Maka froze, then balled up the wet cloth and threw it at Soul. It hit him in the back of the head with a wet splat! His shoulders hunched as it slid down his hair and onto his shoulder. Wet hair no longer stuck out but lay flat to his head.

He twitched, then picked up the cloth. She thought she heard him mutter, "At least it wasn't a book." Louder, he asked, "Where do we need to go for this assignment?"

"Down near the Balli Desert, a town called Sunset. I thought we could take a detour while we were there and see if we could spot anything of the Abyss from the watchtower posted on the edge of the desert," Maka informed him.

Slinging an arm over the back of the couch, Soul looked back over it into the kitchen where Maka stood sipping her water, the wet cloth in his hand. "Isn't that close to the danger zone? I didn't think they'd let students take assignments down there."

"It's why only students of the joint school were to take the assignment," Maka explained. "They feared something might go wrong that may have nothing to do with this cat woman."

Nodding, Soul held up the sheet to read more of it. "It's not such a lame assignment after all." Maka could hear the approval in his voice and caught sight of his sharp teeth, bared in a smile.

Satisfied, Maka made her way over to the desk in their parlour room. Pointing at the computer, she asked Soul, "Can you turn on the research device for me?"

There was a rustle of fabric and Maka looked over her shoulder to see Soul moving towards her. Sighing, he crouched down by what he explained to her was the "tower" of the machine, and pressed the largest button.

"That's the power button," he explained as it blinked on.

"The screen is still black. I tried that earlier but I couldn't see anything," Maka complained. Human technology was baffling. Magic you could command to work, and obeyed everyone differently. The same spell could be cast numerous ways, each sorcerer having his or her preferred style. Technology only worked one way, it was strange.

"You didn't turn on the screen," Soul explained, sounding somewhere between amused and exasperated. Standing, he leaned over the keyboard and mouse to press the large button on the front of the screen.

"Oh," Maka said, flushing in embarrassment. Determined to master the technology that provided humans with a source of information, she sat in the wheeled chair in front of the desk and watched the screen. She had to wait for the "desktop" so that she could search the "internet."

* * *

Soul was still baffled by the sorcerers and dragons who had no idea how to use technology, especially the dragons. Dragons had no magic besides the innate ability to change their shape, unlike the sorcerers who could use spells for small things. Why not adopt human technologies for the conveniences they provided?

He wondered about the lack of even power lines in the sunny town of Sunset. Death City had most of its advances in lighting and internet because of visiting human dignitaries. If he hadn't argued with Maka they would have been living in an apartment building with no cable or internet access. Only by pointing out that the internet was a valuable source of research had he been able to change her mind.

The thought of no internet would have made him shiver, if he hadn't been sweating so much from the heat. Stripping off his coat, Soul slung it over his shoulder, holding it there with a couple of fingers.

"Where is this cat supposed to be in this town?" he questioned Maka.

"We're starting in the residential district, where the cat first came through the portal," Maka explained. She was didn't seem to be effected by the heat at all, her black trench coat covering her from neck to the cuffs of her white gloves. The coat stopped just above her waist in the front, cutting back to show she still wore her sweater vest underneath it. The bottom of her coat reached the ground. Thick black boots with white buckles covered her feet. The only bit of her skin showing were her legs, only covered by her black and red plaid skirt.

"How are you not overheating?" he asked, pulling his shirt off where it stuck uncomfortably to his chest.

Maka paused, then looked over at him. "Oh! I have a spell in my coat that keeps me from getting too hot. Here, let me help you." She pulled him to a stop, then placed her hand on the center of his chest.

Not sure what to expect, Soul looked down at the top of her head. Something in the air suddenly shifted, then Maka's hand flashed and he was surrounded by a delicious coolness.

Sighing in relief, Soul felt his shoulders relax. "Thanks Maka."

"You're welcome," she replied, smiling up at him. When her eyes opened again, Soul had just enough time to notice her eyes now had pupils before her head snapped around to look down an alleyway.

"Oh my! What a delicious looking boy."

Soul spun to face a set of yellow eyes with slit pupils staring straight at him from the shadows. The creature stepped into the sunlight, revealing a voluptuous female body clad in a black outfit. On her long purple hair sat a black, tall pointed hat. A short dress encased her upper body and showed off her assets, her arms had sleeves that started below the shoulder and dripped down from her wrists. Her black boots started at mid-thigh and had pointed toes that he did not want to be kicked by. The tall heels clicked with her every step.

"You look good enough to eat," she said, sending Soul a seductive grin and showing two very pointed canine teeth.

Taking a step back, Soul had to wonder if she meant that literally.

* * *

((Apologies for how long this took me! It's extra long for your enjoyment though! Please rate and review! Constructive criticism is always appreciated.))

((I believe that's everything... If I disappear for any length of time it's because this month is very very bad for me mentally. I will do my best but I can make no promises. See you next chapter!))


	19. Bad Partners?

Maka held her hand out towards Soul. "Soul? Transform."

With a nod, Soul shifted his shape in a flash of white light, molding into his dragon form.

"Ohhhhh!" the woman said, wiggling in excitement. "You're a dragon too!"

Soul moved into Maka's touch and she vaulted onto his back, watching the woman and assessing her soul. It was difficult for Maka to read her, she wasn't human, dragon, sorcerer or madness creature. Her soul looked like a combination of a sorcerer's and a dragon's, but it was more like a cat than a dragon.

"What are you doing here?" Maka demanded of the creature, tensing in expectation of aggression.

"Does it matter Maka? We're here to take her down," Soul supplied, his muscles tensing under her legs.

Recognizing the new position, Maka grabbed for the saddle just as Soul lept for the woman. Being tossed around as she was, Maka didn't see what happened.

"Damn it, she's fast!" Soul exclaimed, his head went up and smacked Maka in the forehead.

"Soul! What do you think you're doing?!" Maka yelled, wincing in pain and trying to keep from falling off Soul's back as he continued to move.

"Catching our first assignment," he answered with a growl.

There was the sound of female laughter followed by that irritating voice. "Too slow dragon boy, you'll never catch me like that. Pumpkin, pumpkin, Halloween Canon!"

Maka looked up just in time to see the flash of orange before they were hit by the spell. She was thrown out of her seat as they both went flying. First her back and then her head crashed into a wall, causing her to gasp in pain and hunch forward. Her hand flattened on the ground as she started to slump over.

The pain blocked her from being able to concentrate on a healing spell.

"Maka! Are you alright?" Soul asked her.

Reluctantly opening an eye and tilting her head up she saw a wall of white which must have been Soul.

"Give me a moment," she gritted out, closing her eye again and focusing. Vaguely aware of Soul's energy reaching out for her, she focused on the healing spell. Slowly, energy worked its way into her system, healing the hurts done to her body from the fall.

Stopping the spell after she felt far less sore, she reached for the back of her head. Her fingers encountered wetness and she sat up to look at them. Making a face at what she saw, she dropped her hand to her lap and looked up into Soul's red eyes.

"What were you thinking, Soul?" she demanded of him. "We can't just blindly attack and expect that to work!"

Sighing, he replied, "What else was I supposed to do? She was right there, and we need to catch her. If we don't act quickly, she'll get away."

"She still got away! And I got hurt in the process." She shoved her hand under Soul's snout, showing him the blood she had found in her hair.

Soul's head jerked back. "I know, I could smell it." He dropped his head and looked away.

"We need a plan, or all we'll end up doing is getting hurt again," Maka told him, putting down hand.

"What good will that do us? She got away."

Shaking her head, Maka stood and stretched, testing her muscles. Soul straightened from his crouch.

"Are you going to give up that easily Soul?" asked Maka.

"No, but I don't see how a plan will help. We don't even know what this chick can do," answered Soul.

"Chick? She's a cat." Maka was confused, the creature didn't even look like a bird.

Rolling his eyes, Soul informed her, "It's an expression Maka. Obviously a human one."

"Oh." Flushing, Maka decided she needed to look up everything to do with human life style and slang when she got home. She didn't like not understanding Soul and his sayings.

"We know she can cast spells and that she can turn into a cat," she stubbornly persisted.

"Make a plan if you like, it doesn't mean that I'll follow it," Soul answered in a bored tone that had Maka huffing.

"What good is a plan if you aren't going to follow it?" questioned Maka in a disgusted tone.

"Oo, the cute boy has a nasty partner. Why are you still with her pretty boy?" Maka looked up to see the woman from earlier sitting on a floating pumpkin, leaning forward as if very interested in their conversation.

"Our conversations don't concern you, cat," Maka told her spitefully.

As Maka spoke Soul made a leap for the floating pumpkin.

"Soul! What are you doing!" shouted Maka.

He destroyed the pumpkin but the woman was already gone and safely standing on another pumpkin.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Soul shouted back. "Talking to her isn't going to solve anything!"

"Typical male! You keep expecting brute force to work even though it has gotten you no where. You've already tried that you block head!"

"Well why don't you cast a spell then oh great sorceress?" mocked Soul.

"And hit you with it?! I can't even predict what you're going to do next, let alone where you're going to be. If I cast a spell I could immobilize you!"

"Hey there dragon boy! Is that stupid girl giving you a hard time? Why don't you forget about her and be mine instead? I'll never yell at you like she is no matter what you did to me," the woman called down from her pumpkin, giving him a smile.

"Hold on _alien_, I'm Soul's partner, not _you_. He's trying to _capture_ you, not become your friend," Maka shot back, her tone scathing.

"Is that so?" the creature said, tilting her head down. She smiled sinisterly and then shot Maka a knowing look. "We'll see about that girl."

Soul edged closer to Maka as the cat woman sprang into motion. With a flick of her wrists she sent an attack at Maka. Expecting the backlash, Maka jumped up out of the way and shot a quick spell at the woman as a counter. It was an enforced habit from the training at the Sorcerer's Academy she had attended.

The woman moved before it could hit her, but another of her pumpkins was cut to pieces.

It disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Pum-pumpkin, Smashing Pumpkin!" the woman shouted.

Maka spotted the creature in time to do a quick spell to push herself out of the path of the pumpkin that would have crushed her into the ground. She quickly rolled to her feet to face her attacker.

The woman shot an attack from her hat, a fist headed straight for Maka's face, but before she could react Soul hit it away with his paw.

"Ready to work together now Soul?" Maka asked him, reaching out and touching his flank.

He instantly moved out of her touch, making Maka feel a flash of hurt. "I was looking to get the lady's attention," he answered, then slowly started walking towards the creature. "You see," he paused and looked back at her. "I only want to be _her_ weapon now," his voice was filled with all the devoted 'love' of little girl in her first crush.

"What?!" Maka froze and stared, her mind completely blanking as she scrambled to process this new information. He couldn't be serious... could he?

"You really want me," the woman crowed in excitement.

"Yes, what's your name, beautiful woman?" asked Soul. He changed back into his human form.

"It's Blair, pretty boy," she purred with a smile.

Shaking off her doubt, Maka pointed at the creature accusingly, "You cast a spell on Soul to fall in love with you, didn't you? That's so underhanded!"

"You really are stupid," Soul told Maka as Blair jumped down to stand next to him.

He turned to face Maka as her stomach plummeted. Her eyes grew wide as he continued, "Any man would choose a woman with a body like Blair's over your flat chest." Maka covered her chest with her arm. "She didn't have to use magic to get me to pick her instead of you."

Flinching, Maka dropped her arm and stared blindly at the ground. "You men. All of you are horrible. Cheating on every woman who comes into your lives. Not caring who you hurt." The past flashed in Maka's mind. Her father chasing after every woman he encountered, driving his wife away. Making her mother _leave_.

"But you... I actually chose to trust you. I put my faith in you," Maka murmured, she felt the tears coming.

"I can't believe this," she stated, her fists clenched as she lost the battle of keeping the tears in. She wrapped her arms around herself protectively, bracing her legs apart. "What reason do men have for cheating? It's not fair!"

"Heh, how am I supposed to know? I can't answer that," Soul told her.

She looked up at him through her hair, blinking away her tears.

"After all, cool men don't cheat on their partners do they?" Her confusion settled when Soul grabbed Blair, his hands turning to paws as he held her still.

"Maka! Now!" he called to her.

Quickly casting a spell, Maka ran up and put her hand on top of his. The spell shot through him and into the cat woman, encasing her in an entrapment spell. A blue collar fastened around her neck, a chain going from it to connect to Soul's wrist.

"Good job, Maka," Soul congratulated with a grin, his form changing back to solely human.

_Yes Soul, thank you for that_, Maka thought, blushing and smiling at her partner. He had proved he wasn't like her father after all.

Blair shape shifted into a black cat in a puff of smoke but the collar stayed put, her whole body glowed faintly blue. She meowed, then said, "Oh poo. What are you going to do with me now?"

"We'll be taking you to the government building here to be kept until you're transferred to the jail in Death City for questioning," Maka informed the cat.

"I don't see what I did wrong," Blair answered with a sniff.

"You shot a woman through a wall with a spell," Maka reminded her disapprovingly.

"It was purely self-defense," she retorted.

* * *

Far from Maka and Soul...

"So this is where the human Angela Brightwood is hiding?" questioned Blackstar.

They stood on a cliff overlooking what looked to be a tower in the forest. The grey stone stood above the tall trees around it, but it was hard to make out the structure from this distance.

"Yes, she crossed the border without permission and is trespassing in sorcerer-dragon territory. She's one of the CEO's in the biggest human technological company, The Path of Science. They're the company that's infamous for their anti-magic campaigns against Lord Death. We're here to investigate and possibly remove her by force. What's your plan Blackstar?"

Blackstar straightened and held up a finger. "First, I make a big entrance! My reputation will be enough to scare them alone! Then, all we need to do is intimidate her a bit more and she'll run all the way home crying!" Planting his hands on his hips he laughed and Tsubaki just smiled along.

_That's not a very good plan Blackstar_...

"So what happens if it doesn't work that way?"

"With a star like me? This will be simple!" he answered with a grin.

Tsubaki nodded, unsure but willing to follow her sorcerer's lead.

They sped through the forest together towards the castle. As they reached where the trees were cut back from the tower, they slowed to a stop.

"What the hell...?" Blackstar mumbled, looking around.

Trees were cracked and broken, there were blackened craters with broken metal in them that still smoked and destroyed pieces of machinery littered the path. A robot sparked and twitched, the original shape of it unrecognizable because of how smashed it was. Judging by the amount of debris scattered around there had to have been a big fight.

Seated on the steps in front of the door to the tower was a man. His silver hair gleamed in the light, like metal. He wore a white button up shirt with dark grey pants and simple sandals on his feet. By his side stood a slim jet black box that had a strap on it. At their approach he raised his head and bright blue eyes shone at them in a way that definitely wasn't human.

"Blackstar, I think he's the android, Mifune. We need to be careful," warned Tsubaki.

"Android? He doesn't look too scary to me," Blackstar replied, and Tsubaki could hear he was smirking just by the sound of his voice.

"State your business here," the android ordered, standing tall. "If I don't like your answer, I'll kill you."

* * *

((This one was a struggle for me to get written. I haven't forgotten this story, and I have many plans for its future. I will do my best to not leave you all hanging. Reviews, follows and favouriting helps to keep me going! See you next chapter.))


End file.
